Live Facial Recognition Cameras On Croydon Lampposts

London’s first fixed live facial recognition cameras will be set up in Croydon. Activist groups have criticised the move as a “dystopian nightmare.”

While the new cameras will mark the police’s first permanent fixtures, vans equipped with the same technology have previously been used in Croydon town centre. The move to introduce these for good has sparked objection from campaign group Big Brother Watch, who say they are “alarmed by the reports.”

The cameras are set to be installed across Croydon, in a pilot scheme, on existing lampposts and buildings. These will only be switched on when officers are using the technology in the area, say the Metropolitan Police Service. There are also presently no plans to expand to other parts of London.

To function, live facial recognition cameras scan faces and compare them to a database of criminals. Before determining if more action is required, an officer may approach someone who has been identified by the camera to confirm their identity and involvement in any offences.

According to authorities, a person’s biometric data will be instantly and permanently erased if they are not found to be a match. Even with this guarantee, individuals are still worried about their privacy as LFR technology is introduced.

Rebecca Vincent, Interim Director of Big Brother Watch said: “We are alarmed by reports that the Metropolitan Police Service is installing an unprecedented permanent network of fixed live facial recognition cameras across Croydon town centre, which marks a worrying escalation in the use of LFR with no oversight or legislative basis.

“This comes on the back of a failed trial in Cardiff, where anyone who entered the city centre was subjected to mass surveillance through a network of temporary LFR cameras, as police scanned more than 160,000 faces during a Six Nations game, but made zero arrests.

“It’s time to stop this steady slide into a dystopian nightmare, and halt all use of LFR technology across the UK until legislative safeguards are introduced”.

Police have assured that LFR has led to the arrest of people who would not typically be identified. Last year there were over 500 detentions made using the technology.

Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, previously reassured residents in the Croydon region that most people had no reason to be concerned about the LFR vans. He said: “If you’re a law-abiding citizen going about your day, you’ve got nothing to worry about. The reality is that the system is picking up people on wanted lists.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service said: “The Met is committed to making London safer, using data and technology to identify offenders that pose a risk to our communities.

“Last year we made over 500 arrests using LFR – removing dangerous individuals who were suspected of serious offences, including strangulation, stalking, domestic abuse and rape.

“We continue to engage with our communities to build understanding about how this technology works, providing reassurances that there are rigorous checks and balances in place to protect people’s rights and privacy.”

And so it starts. People will ask, “What’s the problem if you have nothing to hide?” It will be one day, and by then it will be too late.

I read this stuff and all I can think about in the UK is ‘1984.’ Although some people might rather have the cameras than without.

What I would like to know is who surveils the ones that surveil you? What are the safeguards? Who will be authorised to access it? Who makes sure there’s no abuse of power? How do you find out if you’re part of a data base? How accurate is the tech? And why haven’t the public been asked it they want this?

Is this not discriminatory? As head coverings are worn by a lot of people, along with baseball caps et cetera, or will there be exceptions based on religious beliefs?

This is only the beginning of the disease that is destroying our freedoms and privacy, and it will spread.