South Wales Police to trial facial recognition app on officers' mobile phones

'People of interest' to be stopped in the street based on mobile phone facial recognition app in three-month trial

South Wales Police, undaunted by the reception to its facial recognition trial conducted during 2017's Champions League final, is planning a three-month trial of a facial recognition app on officers' mobile phones. The app will encourage officers to stop 'people of interest' in the street, based on identifications made by the app.

South Wales Police claims that the new app will help officers secure arrests, while helping them to resolve issues of mistaken identify more quickly.

"This new app means that, with a single photo, officers can easily and quickly answer the question of 'are you really the person we are looking for?'," said deputy chief constable Richard Lewis.

He continued: "When dealing with a person of interest during their patrols in our communities officers will be able to access instant, actionable data, allowing to them to identify whether the person stopped is, or is not, the person they need to speak to, without having to return to a police station."

It's a gross abuse of power for South Wales Police to roll out routine, on-the-spot, biometric checks

Lewis added that officers testing the app receive additional training and would be under "careful supervision".

However, the plan has been condemned by human rights group Liberty.

"It is shameful that South Wales Police are rolling out portable facial recognition technology to individual officers while their so-called 'pilots' are being challenged by Liberty in court," said Hannah Couchman, advocacy and policy officer at Liberty.

She continued: "This technology destroys our anonymity in public spaces, chilling our ability to take part in protests and increasing state control over every one of us.

"Far less intrusive means have been used for decades by police to establish a person's identity where necessary. It's a gross abuse of power for South Wales Police to roll out routine, on-the-spot, biometric checks, and especially in circumstances where a person isn't suspected of committing any crime at all.

"This technology is intrusive, unnecessary, and has no place on our streets."

The move by South Wales Police comes despite rising opposition to the use of facial recognition by police forces. Furthermore, the technology has proved to be wildly inaccurate, with the Metropolitan Police reporting an 80 per cent failure rate in its most recent trials.

The UK's Biometrics Commissioner (yes, there is such a thing) has also criticised police forces for their "chaotic" dabbling in facial recognition.