What are police cameras doing with your face print?

Beyond Today

BBC

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2020

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Facial recognition technology is increasingly widespread. You might use it to unlock your phone or computer. It’s used in airports around the world and some shops are using the software to catch or deter shoplifters. Now it’s being used by the police in two parts of the UK. The Metropolitan Police is using live facial recognition cameras on London streets and it’s also being used by police in South Wales. The technology means that faces captured by the cameras can be checked in real time against a watch lists of suspects. But creating a face print or facial signature for everyone who passes a camera is controversial. Privacy campaigners say the technology is often inaccurate and infringes on an individual's right to privacy. The police argue that privacy concerns over the cameras are outweighed by the need to protect the public. We speak to the BBC’s home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw about why the police want to adopt the technology. We also find out how the technology works with Maryam Ahmed, who works in the BBC’s data journalism team and has a PhD in machine learning for image analysis. Presenter: Matthew Price Producers: Katie Gunning and Alicia Burrell Mixed by Emma Crowe Editor: Philly Beaumont

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:05.9	Hello, I'm Matthew Price.
0:07.5	This is Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4,
0:09.8	where we ask one big question about one big story.
0:13.0	Today, what are police cameras doing?
0:17.0	Today, what are police cameras doing with your face print?
0:31.2	Have you heard of Neo Face?
0:35.0	It's software made by a tech company.
0:38.0	This is their ad.
0:40.0	It shows how their cameras capture and scan faces in real time, tracking and identifying people.
0:49.0	Neo Face is just one type of facial recognition technology.
0:54.7	And that's technology that might now be on your computer,
0:57.6	your phone, maybe your video doorbell.
1:01.4	It's being used in airports. Shops are using it to catch or deter shoplifters and the police are now using it.
1:11.0	Now on most of our high streets we've got CCTV cameras. Most of us have probably got
1:16.2	quite used to them but this this facial recognition this is the next step.
1:30.0	Computers linked to those cameras, churning through the data, analyzing with their algorithms and matching faces to a database have wanted people in real time.
1:36.0	So next time you step into your supermarket, maybe you could get pulled aside because your face looks similar to that of a known shoplifter.
1:44.5	How can you give me a situation update over?
1:46.7	They're using it in the town of Clacton in Essex.
1:48.8	No male authorities heading towards Morrison.
1:52.3	She gonna pop down in a resist of anything, it's being used by the police on the streets of anything.
	...

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