23 comments

  • Traster 11 minutes ago

    I really don't understand why they do trials for this. What would be the failure case for the trial? "We carried out the trial for 6 weeks over X period of time, we arrested Y people, at that rate we've decided this is not compatible with modern liberal democracy, we would've traded a free society for Y+2 arrests over X period but we just didn't quite get there"?

    As suggested by other people - this is just going to be used to identify, infiltrate and disrupt the numerous peaceful protests that the police aren't keen on in London.

      jambalaya8 7 minutes ago

      All due respect but I am not totally against police dealing with protests. I am against this Orwellian surveillance stuff. If you want to police so people can deal with day to day things like go shopping without being harassed or freaked out I am all for that. But do it the old fashioned way.

      foldr 6 minutes ago

      How would that work? Easiest way to stop protests is to block off the area of the planned protest and arrest people who try to enter it. It’s not clear to me how facial recognition on the tube would help from a practical point or view.

      Also, this seems to just be a trial expanding existing time and location scoped deployments of live facial recognition into a new environment, rather than a trial run for always-on live facial recognition across the tube network.

        brettermeier a minute ago

        Facial recognition could be used to identify people who are likely to participate in protests and prevent them from doing so in advance by intercepting them at their boarding station or somewhere near it.

  • bobim 5 minutes ago

    Brazil was so right. We're just an inference away from being jailed. I'm not from UK but it shows how we are all helpless and see in plain conciousness what is coming. When did we lost the grip?

  • spacebanana7 20 minutes ago

    “Our deployments are intelligence-led and focused on identifying people wanted by the police or courts, including those suspected of serious offences and those who may be breaching bail conditions or court orders”

    This is crazy. Could easily be used to track protesters who went to the an event the police didn’t like.

      dandaka 7 minutes ago

      This is exactly what happened in Moscow after same tech was launched. It is much 'safer' on streets, since every entrance door and traffic intersection is equipped with cameras now.

      But I pick Portugal's approach every time — no public cameras, no dashcams, it is forbidden to record private persons in public without permission.

      zarzavat a minute ago

      I love the word "including" there. Yes it will be used for people suspected of minor crimes but it also includes people accused serious crimes as well!

      throwayay4929 18 minutes ago

      Could easily be used to track people who posted something bad on Twitter.

      Schiendelman 19 minutes ago

      Could? Will.

  • Schiendelman 19 minutes ago

    They weren't? That's more surprising given the UK surveillance state.

      cucumber3732842 9 minutes ago

      I assume they were always doing it. Now they're doing it above the table so that they can comb through the dataset for petty reasons that don't justify the expense of parallel construction.

  • proc0 an hour ago

    21st century authoritarianism. Humans learned nothing from the 20th century.

      s5ma6n 5 minutes ago

      I'd argue that they actually learned it well, that's why we see anti-privacy stuff like this and Chat Control.

      cyanydeez 22 minutes ago

      i'm pretty sure the majority learned plenty well. But that's not whose in charge is it. Even in democracy, especially in America, it's the billionaires and puritans making these choices.

      root-parent an hour ago

      This is the country that can´t stop dingy boats...this despite journalists always being able to be there on time to take pictures for the Daily Mail...

        codeduck a few seconds ago

        All right, mate, let's hear your plan for securing the UK's south-eastern coastline.

  • Oarch 8 minutes ago

    How will this handle face masks? Hijabs or Niqabs?

      bobim 2 minutes ago

      Direct classification as bad actor with bad intentions.

  • chrisjj 18 minutes ago

    > People who prefer not to enter the recognition zone will have alternative routes available

    Looking forward to seeing the singnage there.

  • Retr0id 16 minutes ago

    This must be especially inconvenient for those with criminal physiognomy.

      DaSHacka 12 minutes ago

      Or really, in the anarcho-tyrannistic structures Western countries have turned into, those who don't.

  • PunchyHamster 17 minutes ago

    UK has fallen.