Facial Recognition Device Wrong 96% of the Time - Study Shows
Trials for Facial Recognition in public shopping centers and stations in London show that a staggering 96% of individuals scanned were wrongly identified of being criminals.
The news comes after a 14 year old boy passing through Westfield Shopping Centre was misidentified as one of the suspected criminals on Police records.
The two scanners based outside the shopping plaza faced backlash from the public, with a 100% Failure rate across its approximately 3 year life span. People passing by the scanners with their faces covered are liable to face fines, and in the last year, 8 arrests were made due to the scanners flagging up the faces of wanted criminals as a match.
As a nation we have opposed the use of ID Cards and DNA Tests, so this was the next best thing, however the system is proving very unreliable as an alternative.
There’s also the concern of the breach of the public’s privacy, it isn’t great knowing that your facial details are being taken unwillingly into a database, even if it is to spot criminals - some situations have led to innocents being wrongly questioned due to a facial match with the system. The system is dealing with a race problem too, as the scanners have had a tendency to single out more women, black and/or minority ethnicity groups, which is backed up with the 14-year old boy who was singled out too.
With the system being trialled for 3 years now, surely it is time to decide whether to fully roll it out or pull out of the market, yes - the system is a breach on privacy, but is there any other way to stop criminals without spending thousands if not millions of pounds trying to single out and find criminals with regular officers?
Written by Harrison Jones