What facial recognition technology means

Proponents of the surveillance technology often liken it to CCTV, but it is much more invasive.

TOPSHOT - A live demonstration uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition in dense crowd spatial-temporal technology at the Horizon Robotics exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2019 in Las Vegas on January 10, 2019. (Photo by DAVID MCNEW / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2017 Ed Bridges, a former Liberal Democrat councillor in Gabalfa in Cardiff, was captured on camera by the South Wales Police while he was shopping. A few months later, during a protest against the arms trade, his image was scanned again. In the world’s first legal challenge against the use of facial recognition (FR) by police, Bridges took the South Wales Police to court, claiming that his privacy had been infringed.

In August, the Court of Appeal found that in taking Bridges’ image, the South Wales Police had violated data protection laws, and had failed to consider the discriminatory impact of facial recognition technology. The ruling identified “fundamental deficiencies” in the legal framework around FR; there was no clear guidance on how it could be used by the police.