Government expands police use of facial recognition vans

The government has announced that more police forces in England will soon be using live facial recognition vans to help catch people wanted for serious crimes. These vans have already been used in London, south Wales, and Essex, and now seven more police forces will get access to ten new vans. The vans are equipped with cameras that scan the faces of people walking by and compare them to a list of suspects wanted for crimes like sexual offences, violent attacks, and even murder. According to the government, the technology has helped police in London make 580 arrests in the past year, including 52 sex offenders who broke the rules of their release.

However, not everyone is happy about this new technology. Groups like Big Brother Watch are worried that it means the government is watching people too closely and invading their privacy. They say the government should stop using these vans until there are stronger laws to protect people's rights. The vans work by measuring features on people's faces, such as the distance between their eyes and the length of their jaw, and then checking if those measurements match anyone on the police's watchlist. Each van has a trained officer who checks the matches to make sure the technology is working correctly.

The government says it wants to be open about how the technology is used and is asking the public for their opinions on what rules should be in place. Some people, like Baroness Chakrabarti, think the technology is too intrusive and could lead to mistakes, like identifying the wrong person. She wants better laws to control how the vans are used. The government says the vans are only used to find people suspected of serious crimes and that the technology is accurate and fair. They also say that if your face is not on the list, your picture will be blurred and not saved. The government has also promised that every neighborhood will have a police officer people can contact if they have questions or need help, and that police will follow strict guidelines when using the vans.