LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A cross-party coalition of 65 British lawmakers called on Friday for a pause in use of live facial recognition surveillance on the country’s streets.
British police have previously deployed live facial recognition at a number of large-scale public events, including the recent coronation of King Charles II.
The move comes after policing minister Chris Philp, speaking at the ruling Conservative party’s annual conference this week, suggested a new database of British passports could be used to catch criminals through biometric surveillance, drawing criticism from some.
In a joint statement published on Friday, lawmakers from across the political spectrum said: “We call on UK police and private companies to immediately stop using live facial recognition for public surveillance.”
Signatories included veteran Conservative MP David Davis, Labour politicians Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.
“This dangerously authoritarian technology has the potential to turn populations into walking ID cards in a constant police line-up,” said Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch.
The original article contains 242 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 30%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A cross-party coalition of 65 British lawmakers called on Friday for a pause in use of live facial recognition surveillance on the country’s streets.
British police have previously deployed live facial recognition at a number of large-scale public events, including the recent coronation of King Charles II.
The move comes after policing minister Chris Philp, speaking at the ruling Conservative party’s annual conference this week, suggested a new database of British passports could be used to catch criminals through biometric surveillance, drawing criticism from some.
In a joint statement published on Friday, lawmakers from across the political spectrum said: “We call on UK police and private companies to immediately stop using live facial recognition for public surveillance.”
Signatories included veteran Conservative MP David Davis, Labour politicians Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.
“This dangerously authoritarian technology has the potential to turn populations into walking ID cards in a constant police line-up,” said Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch.
The original article contains 242 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 30%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
You’re drunk again. Go home, bot!