Home Office lobbied for facial recognition in shops to tackle theft, report

Privacy campaigners demand answers from the Home Office regarding apparent attempts to influence the ICO

Recently published documents have revealed the UK government has been actively pressurising the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to endorse the rollout of facial recognition technology in high street shops and supermarkets to tackle 'retail crime'.

As reported by The Guardian, the secret strategy was agreed on 8th March during a confidential meeting between policing minister Chris Philp, senior Home Office officials, and representatives from the private company Facewatch, which creates live facial recognition systems for the retail sector.

As per the meeting minutes, Chris Philp and Simon Gordon, the founder of Facewatch, engaged in a discussion about "retail crime" and explored the advantages of using privately owned facial recognition technology.

The officials present at the meeting decided to actively advocate for the use of facial recognition technology to address crime in shops and supermarkets by approaching the ICO to highlight its potential benefits.

Subsequent communication between the Home Office and the ICO concerning Facewatch's facial recognition technology remains undisclosed.

The minutes indicate that Philp recognised that attempting to influence the independent regulator may not yield the desired results.

Philp conveyed to Facewatch that the ICO operates independently, and he does not have the authority to alter its decisions or opinions.

The specifics of the meeting came to light when civil liberties campaigners from Big Brother Watch obtained the information through a freedom of information request.

Big Brother Watch has demanded explanations from the Home Office regarding the potential attempts to influence the ICO.

"Minutes of the closed-door meeting between Chris Philp and surveillance tech firm Facewatch make for uncomfortable reading," said Mark Johnson, advocacy manager at Big Brother Watch.

"The Home Office must urgently answer questions about this meeting, which appears to have led officials to lean on the ICO in order to favour a firm that sells highly invasive facial recognition technology."

According to Johnson, live facial recognition is an authoritarian mass surveillance tool that effectively transforms the general public into walking ID cards.

"When used in retail settings, these face-scanning systems work by adding customers to secret watchlists with no due process, meaning people can be blacklisted and denied the opportunity to enter shops despite being entirely innocent. This may sound like something from an episode of Black Mirror but it is happening in Britain today."

Facial recognition technology has faced significant criticism and scrutiny, primarily concerning its potential implications on privacy and human rights.

Privacy advocates and independent researchers have raised concerns about the technology's flaws and biases, especially when it comes to the treatment of individuals with darker skin tones.

The alleged move by the Home Office stands in sharp contrast to the approach taken by the European Union, which is actively working towards prohibiting the use of facial recognition technology in public spaces under its forthcoming artificial intelligence act.

"The UK should seek to emulate the European artificial intelligence act, which would place a ban on the use of facial recognition for surveillance purposes in all public spaces," added Johnson.

South Wales Police and London's Metropolitan Police have employed facial recognition software during events such as the Notting Hill Carnival and, more recently, the coronation.

Last month, the Metropolitan Police disclosed the findings of its review on the effectiveness of facial recognition technology, asserting that there is "no statistically significant bias" concerning race and gender, and the likelihood of a false match is approximately 1 in 6,000 people who pass by the camera.

"Shops are at the heart of our communities, and it is important that businesses are free to trade without fear of crime or disorder," a Home Office spokesperson told The Guardian when asked about the ministerial support for Facewatch.

"That is why we continue to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives, trade associations and policing to ensure our response to retail crime is as robust as it can be."