UK police have been urged to increase their use of facial recognition technology

British police minister Chris Philp has called on law enforcement agencies to double the use of artificial intelligence-based facial recognition systems to find criminals.

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In a letter to police chiefs, he set a target of conducting more than 200,000 searches of the National Criminal Image Database by 2024.

Philp also called for the increased use of real-time facial recognition, such as crowd scanning. The technology has already been proven effective, he said.

However, there are growing concerns about the lack of regulation of such systems and the threat of surveillance. A number of parliamentarians and NGOs have called for facial recognition to be banned in public places.

However, the Home Office has rejected the criticism, pointing out that the technology has a strong legal basis and helps in investigations. When the system is used, the public is alerted and personal details are deleted if no match is found.

Source: TNW