London police’s face recognition system gets it wrong 81% of the time

The first independent evaluation of the Metropolitan police’s use of face recognition systems warned it is “highly possible” it would be ruled unlawful if challenged in court.

The news: London’s police force has conducted 10 trials of face recognition technology since 2016, using Japanese company NEC’s Neoface system. It commissioned academics from the University of Essex to independently assess the scheme, and they concluded that the system is 81% inaccurate (in other words, the vast majority of people it flags up to the police are not on a wanted list.) They found that, of 42 matches, only eight were confirmed to be correct, Sky News reports.

Police pushback: The Met police insists its technology only makes an error in one in 1,000 instances, but it hasn’t shared its methodology for arriving at that statistic.

Rising fears: As face recognition technology becomes more ubiquitous, there’s growing concern about the gender and racial bias embedded into many systems. With that (and other concerns) in mind, San Francisco banned its use by public agencies last month. That doesn’t do anything to stop its use proliferating in the private sector, but at least it might mean it can’t be wielded by authorities with the power to arrest you. 

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