Live facial recognition trials
Pippa King made this Freedom of Information request to Kent Police This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Kent Police,
As per: https://twitter.com/jamesmullarkey/statu... where a letter, dated 14 June 2019, from Nick Hurd MP states:
"We know that LFR [live facial recognition] trials are intended to commence to find missing and vulnerable persons, which is a collaboration between the Home Office and police forces (Kent and West Midlands, British Transport Police)."
1) Please advice when and where such trials will occur with Kent Police.
2) Please provide any Data Protection Impact Assessment for these trials.
3) Please advise when the decision for these trials to go ahead was.
4) Please supply documents of any minutes of meetings, emails or any communications with the Home Office or other bodies, i.e. commercial entities (which may involved redaction) or for example the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, Biometric Commissioner, Law Enforcement Facial Images and New Biometric Oversight and Advisory board, etc, involved in these trials.
5) Please advise the company who will be supplying the LFR hardware and software.
6) Please supply or advise any research or work that has prompted the use of live facial recognition to find "missing and vulnerable persons".
Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others and in such case please could you release available data as soon as possible rather than delay the entire request. If you are not fully certain of what it is I am asking then I look forward to contact from you as soon as possible to clarify what it is I am requesting in order to meet your obligations under the law. If the costs of processing this request exceed the limit in the Act, please advise on what information you are able to supply within the cost limit.
Yours faithfully,
Pippa King
Dear Ms King,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF 19/07/1036
Thank you for your request received by Kent Police on 12^th July 2019. I
note you seek access, in summary, to information relating to:
Live facial recognition trials
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides that a public
authority respond to an FOI request within 20 working days. Please be
aware that as well as experiencing very high request volumes, Kent Police
is currently in the process of transitioning to a new crime recording
database. This means that whilst we will endeavour to complete your
request as soon as possible it is likely that a response may well be
delayed, particularly where crime data is sought.
Your interest in Kent Police is appreciated and pending a specific
response to your request, I enclose a sheet, which summarises your rights.
Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact us via the following telephone number 01622 652610 quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
Lakeisha Dowsey-Magog
Public Disclosure Assistant
Information Security and Governance
Kent Police
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Dear Ms Pippa King,
With reference to the Freedom of Information request that we received from
you on 12 July 2019, please find attached the response letter.
Should you have any queries relating to this then please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Yours sincerely,
Public Disclosure Officer
Information Security and Governance
Kent Police
This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...
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J Roberts left an annotation ()
Commissioner for the Retention and Use of Biometric Material Annual Report
January 2021 – March 2022
And
Surveillance Camera Commissioner Annual Report March 2021 – March 2022
February 2023
'84. More worrying is the reported use of images of people who, while having been arrested, have never subsequently been charged or summonsed, for comparison against Live Facial Recognition ‘reads‘ and watchlists. As I record in Part 2 of this report, the use of facial recognition technology by the police has become one of the most contentious areas of biometric surveillance, not just in the UK but globally .
Part 2 – Facial Recognition and AI
96. The objective of the event was to gain a better understanding of how facial recognition technology is perceived by society in a policing and law enforcement context. Speaking at the event were the Forensic Science Regulator, a senior lecturer from Sheffield University and representatives from the Biometrics Institute, the Information Commissioner’s Office, South Wales Police, and Big Brother Watch.
Appendix F: Facial recognition and AI'
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
Initial analysis of the 2022 police survey returns
Published 14 November 2022
Is your force operating Facial Recognition Technology?
'Only one force stated that it was using LFR (from the list supplied). Six had access to PND and two of those to CAID. One other mentioned access to Athena.'
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
Live facial recognition technology guidance published
22/3/22
https://www.college.police.uk/article/li...
The Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner's response to the College of Policing APP on Live Facial Recognition - 6/4/22
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-b...
Chief Constables’ Council
Title: National Biometrics Function and National Facial Recognition Project
30/9/21
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/8...
Who's Watching You? Report by Big Brother Watch - 7/2/22
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-conten...
'Police forces were reluctant to answer questions about any advanced capabilities, while some refused to say if they used Chinese brands at all'
Fact Sheet on live facial recognition used by police Home Office 2019
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov....