back to article UK peers: Is this what you call governance of facial recog tech? A 'few scattered papers'!

British cops’ use of automated facial recognition technology has come under fire from peers, with the Greens’ Jenny Jones calling on the government for an immediate ban. Speaking in a House of Lords debate, Jones said that there were “very real concerns” about the use of the technology, asserting that the UK was “moving into …

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  1. Bill M

    Big Brother IS watching you

    I am not a number I am a free man

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Big Brother IS watching you

      I am not a number I am a free man

      Sure you are RM35M4419.

      1. Robert Forsyth
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Big Brother IS watching you

        Actually 63386 and you are 52670.

        1. Kane
          Big Brother

          Re: Big Brother IS watching you

          "Actually 63386 and you are 52670."

          Well played, 2920, well played.

    2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Gimp

      I am not a number I am a free man

      Not to these people you're not.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: They'll probably be too busy watching this repeat criminal.

      Details of Ireland's 'most reckless driver'. He had amassed speeding tickets and parking fines. Each time the serial offender was stopped he managed to evade justice by giving a different address.

      It was discovered that the man the Irish police had been looking for was a Mr Prawo Jazdy. Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for "driving licence" and not the first and surname on the licence.

      Police decided to check and see how many times officers have made this mistake.

      The system had created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities.

      (It's an old story, but I doubt any lessons have been learnt, in terms of today's biometric data)

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7899171.stm

    4. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      Re: Big Brother IS watching you

      I am not a number I am a free man

      I am 0800. I am not a man, I am a free number

    5. macjules

      Re: Big Brother IS watching you

      .. and not at all a Green Peer I presume?

  2. Teiwaz

    “What we have at the moment is a make-it-up-as-you-go-along approach or “do as you want as long as you don’t get caught”,” he said.

    When they do get caught, a vaguely worded bill gets whipped through to make it all legal and things carry on until some other ruling deems the legislation is illegal, then they keep doing it while another bill gets drafted to quickly and clumsily paper over the troublesome bits.

    1. Adrian 4

      Maybe it's about time doing things that are illegal was made a criminal offence ?

      1. PaulR79

        @Adrian 4 - That'll never catch on. Imagine how empty Parliament would be with such laws!

  3. B83

    Fight back

    When will the general public start fighting back. Its scary what can be done with tech. Who\what will be the spark that makes joe public go "no more".

    If the government gets its way its1984 for ever more.

    1. Martin Gregorie

      Re: Fight back

      It won't be any spark from the general public. It will be the first time an MP or Minister gets nicked in error, so don't hold your breath.

    2. Crisp
      Boffin

      Re: Fight back

      I am fighting back. Every 3 months I smack myself in the face with a frying pan.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 1984

      Especially when your Echo ** suddenly becomes your always on 'Telescreen' and everything you do and say in your home is sent to the NSA (for later transmission to GCHQ). and please note that watching boxed sets of "Yes Minister" is not an opt-out from the data collection.

      ** Other home spying equipment is also available for you to purchase.

      1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

        Re: 1984

        Especially when your Echo ** suddenly becomes your always on 'Telescreen'

        Why "when"? It already is - Alexa is included in the new Fire TV kit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ETRIFOW/ref=nav_shopall_k_FTVS

        1. Rich 11

          Re: 1984

          Why "when"? It already is

          You have to hold down the microphone button on the remote to speak to Alexa. At least that's what she tells me, and that's what she's trained me to do.

    4. watchingthewatchers

      Re: Fight back

      Big Brother Watch is fighting back -> https://twitter.com/bbw1984

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fear that you can be recognised by the mostly shite low quality cctv available in the UK. Fear is great at making the people follow rules. The problem they have is when people realise the tech doesn't match up to the ability people fear they have.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Fear that you can be wrongly recognised by the mostly shite low quality cctv available in the UK.

      FTFY

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        True but have you seen the state of CCTV? If you need examples just think of every missing person and the inevitable grainy useless CCTV they release. Unless of course that's what they want us to think.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Fear that you can be wrongly recognised by the mostly shite low quality cctv available in the UK.

        At least that's easy to correct, once you actually show them your face.

        1. HieronymusBloggs

          "At least that's easy to correct, once you actually show them your face."

          How do you prove you're not the person in the image if the quality is so bad it produces a false positive in the first place? If you don't have a plausible alibi you'll be assumed to be correctly identified.

        2. Remy Redert

          That would be after the prosecutor gets to see the images over which you were arrested, 3 months into the trial after a year+ of detention?

        3. Rich 11

          At least that's easy to correct, once you actually show them your face.

          Every time there's a knock at the door I curse the quirk of genetics that has given me sixty-four medium-grey pixels for a face.

    2. big_D Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Judging by the videos on reality TV cop shows and YouTube, I would say most people don't even seem to know they are on camera most of the time...

      1. Kane

        "Judging by the videos on reality TV cop shows and YouTube, I would say most people don't even seem to know care they are on camera most of the time..."

        There, FTFY!

  6. Christoph

    At the moment you can be arrested for the crime of going to Notting Hill Carnival while looking vaguely like a known criminal. In the future you will get nicked every time you walk down the street.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Unfortunately you wont be nicked - that would allow you to question the evidence.

      You will just be misidentified and go on a database. You were "seen" (to p=0.05) at a demo against an arms fair. You end up on a no-fly list or suddenly don't get that job at a firm that gets lots of government work.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Second article in a week on secret law in the UK

    It's almost like they're trying to out-Stasi the Stasi.

    And then they wonder why people have no respect for the police...

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. JohnMurray

    It's cold = wear a face mask

    It's summer = wear a face mask to filter the traffic pollution

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I Agree.

      Face masks for security conscious hipsters, gotta be the next big thing.

      Invest now.

      (See icon)

      1. Spangle

        They are currently building up to a ban on burkhas in the UK, the unsuspecting public believing its to stop terrorism. Of course once it comes into law it will just be titled face coverings in public to avoid persecuting individual religions etc. If switzerland, france, belgium, the netherlands, spain and italy all have bans of some description then its a matter of time before it becomes european policy.

    2. big_D Silver badge

      There is a ban on face coverings in Germany, unless it is for religious purposes, it seems.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Start your own religion.

        Evidence is clearly not required.

        "The mission of thy godly face"

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Ban you say?

        How do the authorities arrest a crowd?

        1. Rich 11

          How do the authorities arrest a crowd?

          With kettling, tear gas and snatch squads, as I seem to recall.

      3. HieronymusBloggs

        "There is a ban on face coverings in Germany, unless it is for religious purposes, it seems."

        I imagine that is very popular with welders, construction workers, surgeons, motorcyclists and those who don't like frostbitten faces in winter.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: a ban on face coverings in Germany

          That must keep the cops around Garmisch and Zugspitze busy in the ski season.

        2. Remy Redert

          It's a little less overly broad than that. But face coverings in public without a good reason absolutely will attract police attention. Generally I expect they'll ask you kindly to remove the offending article, as this is the modern German police, not the US.

  9. Tom 7

    Re Face Masks

    Face Mask Recognition is already close to 100%.

    1. Kane

      Re: Re Face Masks

      "Face Mask Recognition is already close to 100%."

      Yup, that's a Face Mask alright!

  10. TrumpSlurp the Troll
    Trollface

    Retro fashion

    Wasn't it fashionable at one time in the UK for ladies to wear veils on their hats?

    Possibly quite practical to keep sun and flies away?

    I tried to look it up but was swamped by muslim veil controversy.

    Time for the fashion to return in a unisex manner?

    1. Doctor_Wibble
      Angel

      Re: Retro fashion

      And don't forget the Dame Edna glasses to help the confusion - the fancier the better because then they have trouble getting a fix on where your eyebrows are meant to be.

      Added bonus, the glitzy bits can hide the cunningly-flickering camera-blinding IR LEDs that you added to the frame.

    2. Rich 11

      Re: Retro fashion

      Time for the fashion to return in a unisex manner?

      Beekeepers of the world, unite!

  11. JakeMS
    Thumb Up

    Well

    As they say, If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear!

    Now, please be a good little citizen, pay your taxes on time and make sure to keep us up to date with any decisions in your life you plan to make, should you wish to do something other than we have allocated for you today please be aware you will be caught. Remember, you owe us everything and without us you will have nothing.

    But please don't think of us as "spying" on you. Think of it as keeping you safe, there are some very bad people out there who do not pay their taxes, sorry, wait no that's not what I mean, I mean there are bad people out there who will hurt you and your family and must be caught.

    It is for your own good really. We are keeping you safe, we are protecting your children from the child catcher and we are helping you live a long and happy life!

    Just remember, you can trust us. We are perfectly trust worthy. We do not use any of the information we capture about you unless you do something bad like missing a tax payment or killing someone.

    We are your friends, please trust us. Now run along and enjoy your life and remember, every day, every hour, every minute and every second of your life we are here for you.

    PS: Can you please tell your neighbour John that he isn't fooling anyone by telling us his last name is "Doe". If he continues to resist we may have to terminate him.

    1. Wensleydale Cheese

      Re: Well

      "here are some very bad people out there who do not pay their taxes our wages"

      FTFY

    2. Rich 11

      Re: Well

      or killing someone.

      (Unless this occurs as an entirely predictable result of government economic policy, of course.)

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