Facial recognition technology has been proven repeatedly to be discriminatory against communities of colour and will further entrench racism within policing (Met police to more than double use of live facial recognition, 31 July).
It has been known to lead to misidentification and the risk of wrongful arrest, as we saw in the reporting this week on the case of Shaun Thompson. It’s also known to be less accurate in scanning the faces of people of colour, so using it to target attenders of Notting Hill carnival is very concerning, especially when we consider the Casey report’s conclusion that the Metropolitan police are guilty of institutional racism.
No matter who we are, we should all feel safe to move freely without risk of harassment or false arrest. These systems violate our right to privacy, our rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, and to equality and non-discrimination. This is particularly the case given the continued lack of government regulation on these technologies, leaving police to write their own rules with no accountability or oversight.
The Met’s plans to use this dangerous and discriminatory tool of surveillance should be immediately scrapped.
Alba Kapoor
Amnesty International UK
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
