The British Transport Police has deployed live facial recognition (LFR) cameras across London's busiest stations as part of a pilot program to identify people wanted by police. The initiative, launched in February, has seen officers scan over 330,000 commuters, but surprisingly, only one person has been flagged as a criminal, and even that was a false alarm.
The cameras have been deployed in "crime hotspots" at stations such as Waterloo, Euston, Victoria, King's Cross, St Pancras, Liverpool Street, and London Bridge. According to the British Transport Police, the cameras have scanned an estimated 92,784 faces in Waterloo Station, 71,945 faces in Euston, and 51,948 faces in Victoria, among others.
The police force has set a deliberately high threshold to prioritize accuracy and reduce the likelihood of misidentification, with all alerts subject to officer review before any engagement. Despite the extensive use of LFR, the British Transport Police has made 13 arrests for offenses including breach of Criminal Behaviour Orders, theft, and public order offenses.
However, the use of LFR has raised concerns among civil liberties groups, with Big Brother Watch stating that the figures from the British Transport Police's pilot would be "laughable" if they didn't have such troubling implications for rights and freedoms. The group argues that millions of Londoners may have already been subject to digital police line-ups without realizing it.
The technology is not just used in stations; private LFR operator Facewatch is also using it to scan people's faces as they enter shops. Despite claiming a 99.98% accuracy rate, Facewatch has made mistakes, including wrongly accusing a mother of stealing a pair of shoes. The Metropolitan Police, which is the first force to install permanent LFR cameras, is expanding its program to bring cameras to the West End and Soho.
The Metropolitan Police say they use LFR technology to prevent and detect crime and find wanted criminals. When people pass through an area with a camera, their images are streamed directly to the LFR system and compared to a watchlist. LFR is often used at large events or in busy areas, typically on top of vans driven around by police.
The use of LFR has sparked debate, with some residents welcoming the crime reduction, while others raise concerns about accuracy and potential misuse of the technology.
