Kaspersky Lab On Facial Recognition Technology Being Trialled In The UK

Cardiff was the UK’s first test-bed for facial recognition technology that can scan thousands of faces and match them to a watchlist. 

Cardiff blazes trail for UK facial recognition technologyhttps://t.co/OdqO9Q951q

— Mr C (@mugsensation) March 6, 2019

Expert Comments below: 

David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab: 

“Facial recognition plays an ever-increasing role in our lives, and it’s no surprise to see police in Cardiff trialling new tactics through enhanced technology. However, it’s important for law enforcement – and other implementors of the technology – to remember that facial recognition technology is not perfect. We’ve seen problems that still exist, for example the recent case with Amazon’s facial recognition technology demonstrated that there is a lot of work to be done before this can be considered ‘reliable technology’, and for its results to be trusted in environments, where there is no room for error. The fact that this system is nowhere near perfect leaves us with no confidence that it is protected against potential cybercriminals. 

“This technology also presents significant privacy risks. Every individual has a right to know who is using our data and how they are doing so. Most people don’t know the risks they face online – or the value of their personal details. Research we conducted last year with 7,000 consumers across Europe showed that nearly two-thirds (64%) of people did not know all the places where their personal data was stored. In addition, half (50%) of people do not know how much their data is worth, though 88% of respondents revealed they would care if their data was used unlawfully. It’s therefore imperative that law enforcements clearly communicate with people how they’re using people’s data through this facial recognition technology”.