UK Plans To Use Passport Photo Database For Criminal Facial Recognition Checks

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The British government has rolled out an unprecedented edict, compelling police to cross-reference with facial recognition technology closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of all thefts with governmental photographic databases such as that used for passports. This approach—described by Police Minister Chris Philp as “game-changing”— intends to systematically resolve theft cases by deploying advanced facial recognition technology. Philp’s order, however, is raising strenuous objections from privacy advocates, triggering a larger dialogue about our emerging surveillance culture. The mandate underlines the application of cutting-edge facial recognition tools to match and identify offenders’ faces from extremely obscure or partial images in the footage of thefts, burglaries, and shoplifting. The tentacles of this surveillance practice extend to doorstep thefts, burglaries, and even instances where video doorbell systems or private CCTV security systems have captured the alleged culprits. While Philp’s resolve echoes unfiltered enthusiasm for the expanded use of facial recognition, and there sure is a lot of public sentiment to curb rising shoplifting and other crimes, he overlooks the disquieting implication that this technology could subsume personal privacy rights. Moreover, making surveillance a societal norm might incite criminals to don masks, ironically exacerbating the situation by instigating the enforced usage of identity-obscuring methods and meaning that it’s only law-abiding citizens that end up getting their face scanned. Philp, who has received briefings on the technology from Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley is committed to implementing these database searches…UK Plans To Use Passport Photo Database For Criminal Facial Recognition Checks