Backlash over police plans to use facial recognition at Bedford River Festival


Yesterday, (Thursday, July 18) Bedfordshire Police said it will be using LFR at this weekend’s Bedford River Festival.
This has attracted comments on its Facebook page such as: “Ah great – so you’ve ironed out all the bugs where it can’t tell people from ethnic minorities apart and so flags them all as wanted suspects?”
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Hide Ad“The use of face-based recognition systems can amplify racial and gender bias and thus can harm people’s work lives.”
And “1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual.”
Bedfordshire Police said LFR will be used to locate “those who pose the greatest threat to the wider public”.
However, Liberty, who campaigns to “make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly”, said this technology has no place in society.
Sam Grant, director of advocacy at Liberty, said: “Live facial recognition is an unregulated mass surveillance tool which changes what it means to walk down the streets, pop to the shops, or enjoy music at festivals.
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Hide Ad“We should all be concerned at what this means for our rights – to privacy, to protest, and to freedom from discrimination.
“The expansion of this technology to Bedfordshire Police is of grave concern.
“And despite being widely used now by police forces, too little is known about how the police are using live facial recognition.
“The data retention policies are unclear, and there is much a police force can do with live video feeds,” he said.
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Hide AdBedfordshire Police said images that trigger an alert are deleted immediately after use or within 24 hours.
They added the images and biometric data of individuals who do not trigger an alert will be deleted automatically and cannot be retrieved.
In its announcement, the force said LFR locations at the Festival will be “clearly marked”.
Mr Grant added: “What we do know – live facial recognition deployments are deeply intrusive and dangerous in the hands of an all too often racist and misogynistic police force.
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Hide Ad“Avoiding live facial recognition deployments, or covering your face while in these areas has been treated by other police forces as suspicious activity in the past.
“As such we urge everyone attending the Bedford River Festival to be aware of the impact of facial recognition and raise concerns with their local MP.
“Quite simply, this technology, and its surveillance-state implications, have no place in our society,” he said.
Bedfordshire Police had no comment to make on Liberty’s statement.
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