UK police begins live facial recognition trials at railway stations

The UK police have kicked off a six-month pilot using live facial recognition (LFR) surveillance to monitor train stations.

The testing was initiated on Wednesday by the British Transport Police (BTP) at London Bridge railway station, with future plans to cover key transportation hubs in London.

The introduction of LFR on UK railway stations was first announced in November last year, coinciding with a mass stabbing attack on a train to London that left eleven people injured. The system aims to target crime hotspots where data has shown “high harm” offenders are likely to pass through.

“The initiative follows a significant amount of research and planning, and forms part of BTP’s commitment to using innovative technology to make the railways a hostile place for individuals wanted for serious criminal offences, helping us keep the public safe,” says Transport Police Chief Superintendent Chris Casey.

The Transport Police relies on the NEC’s NeoFace M40 facial recognition algorithm, which was evaluated by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The force has pledged to publish a full assessment of its operation after the pilot is completed.

Similar to other police LFR deployments, the system will rely on a watchlist of offenders and automatically delete images of people who are not matched. The project includes Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the Rail Delivery Group.

London Assembly member calls for LFR ban

The expansion of LFR into railway stations comes as the UK government prepares for increased rollouts of the technology as part of its newly announced policing reforms. According to the blueprint, the Home Office will fund 40 new LFR vans to be deployed in town centers across England and Wales.

The plan, however, is sparking resistance.

On Wednesday, a member of the London Assembly for the Green Party, Zoë Garbett, called on the city’s Metropolitan Police to halt its facial recognition deployments, citing concerns over bias and a lack of primary legislation for police use of the technology.

The comments were delivered during a 10-week consultation on a legal framework for police use of the surveillance tech kicked off by the Home Office in December, according to Computer Weekly.

“It makes no sense for the home secretary to announce the expansion of live facial recognition at the same time as running a government consultation on the use of this technology,” says Garbett. “This expansion is especially concerning given that there is still no specific law authorising the use of this technology.”

In a report submitted to the London Assembly, Garbett argues that the Met Police has been plagued by a lack of transparency, including over the costs of deploying the technology.

“This rapid increase in deployment has come with no evaluation of its effectiveness or consideration of the cost of using LFR compared to other possible policing and non-policing methods,” the report notes.

Garbett also notes that the London police have been increasing the size of the watchlist , turning LFR from “precise policing” to something more akin to a “fishing trawler.” The Green Party member also argues that the LFR is used disproportionately in areas that have more people of black, Asian or mixed ethnicities than the London average.

The report notes that its findings were informed by the work of advocacy organizations Big Brother Watch and Liberty.

Big Brother Watch is currently mounting the largest legal challenge yet to the Met Police’s use of facial recognition. The case, brought by black anti-knife crime campaigner Shaun Thompson and Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo, was heard by the London High Court in January.

Thompson was detained by police after the Met Police’s facial recognition system produced a false match.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  British Transport Police  |  facial recognition  |  law enforcement  |  live facial recognition  |  NEC  |  NeoFace  |  real-time biometrics