UK police need to slow down with face recognition, says data watchdog

A legal code of practice is needed before face recognition technology can be safely deployed by police forces in public places, says the UK's data regulator. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it has serious concerns about the use of the technology as it relies on large amounts of personal information, in a blog post. Current laws, codes and practices "will not drive the ethical and legal approach that's needed to truly manage the risk that this technology presents," said information commissioner Elizabeth Denham. She called for police forces to be compelled to show justification that face recognition is "strictly necessary, balanced and effective" in each case it is deployed. Face recognition can map faces in a crowd by measuring the distance between facial features, then compare results with a "watch list" of images, which can include suspects, missing people and persons of interest. South Wales Police and the Met Police have been trialling face recognition as a possible way to reduce crime, but the move has been divisive.