UK rail cops' £320K face-scanning spree nets zero matches
British Transport Police’s six-month facial recognition pilot produced one alert, and it was a false positive
British Transport Police (BTP) spent over £320,000 on a six-month trial of live facial recognition cameras at London railway stations, scanning half a million commuters. The system only produced one alert, which turned out to be a false positive, resulting in no correct matches and no arrests. The trial consumed nearly 100 hours of police officers' time and cost more than £320,000, leading privacy campaigners to question the effectiveness and necessity of such intrusive measures.
Jasleen Chaggar, a senior legal and policy officer at Big Brother Watch, stated that the results were "laughable" and highlighted the "troubling implications for our rights and freedoms." Privacy International's Sarah Simms expressed deep concern over the invasion of privacy and the lack of legislation governing the technology. Despite the negative outcomes, BTP has decided to extend the trial until November and expand it to include the London Underground.
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