The United Kingdom (UK) is well known for having some of the most heavily, electronically, monitored cities in the world. With so many security cameras it is next to impossible to not be on camera, if you are on one of the city streets. Facial recognition is a tool that the UK police believed that they could use in order to help sift through footage to find potential suspects. In theory, a machine would be able to search through footage in a fraction of the speed and could potentially identify people of interest more accurately. This is why this software was tested on such a large datastore. This test benefits both the software itself as well as the police, if it is able to work properly.
What is Facial Recognition?
It is a type of software that is used to identify a person based on similarities between the photo being tested and the photo that is known to be of the person. This software uses a process known as deep learning which uses its previous mistakes to help narrow down what was correct and use that as a path to the correct answer as it analyzes the data. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning. This overarching field is used to train machines to be able to correctly identify and label data that is given to it by learning over time.
This video gives a good explanation of facial recognition and its uses:
More Information
This new deep learning software was applied to the UK police footage in order to test its accuracy at correctly identifying people of interest. However, according to BBC News, “[t]he Metropolitan Police used facial recognition at London’s Notting Hill carnival in 2016 and 2017 and at a Remembrance Sunday event. Its system incorrectly flagged 102 people as potential suspects and led to no arrests.” Also, the “South Wales Police said its technology had made 2,685 ‘matches’ between May 2017 and March 2018 – but 2,451 were false alarms.” This level of failure led both departments to cease their usage of the software until more improvements are made.
Where Can You Learn More?
There are great articles on the websites of: the BBC, the New York Post, the Independent and The Telegraph.
Comments and Opinions
This technology will be able to keep our streets more safe and secure, when it works with a high rate of accuracy. However, the integration of facial recognition software means that not only will criminals and people of interest have their whereabouts tracked, but everyone who passes through these heavily monitored metropolitan areas will have their entire journey monitored and tracked. While these areas are already being monitored, it currently relies on a real person to find out when someone moves from one area to another. With facial recognition software, an entire timeline of one’s whereabouts in one of these areas could be tracked and compiled. As with all things, in order to gain more security we give up our privacy.
