<https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/07/04/london-police-facial-...> London’s Metropolitan Police’s controversial trial of facial recognition technology to spot suspects failed to work 80% of the time and could be ruled illegal, according to researchers. The researchers from the University of Essex said the problems were so bad that the use of facial recognition by the Met should be stopped immediately. They were given privileged access to six live trials, watching them from the preinstallation discussions through to deployment and use by police at the Westfield shopping center in Stratford, London. Throughout, “significant operational shortcomings” were uncovered. Over the six trials, the facial recognition tech made 42 matches of people walking around Westfield with individuals on a watchlist. In only eight cases could the report authors say with absolute confidence the technology made correct matches. But the police still deemed it acceptable to stop individuals on 26 occasions. In 14 of those cases, the matches were found to be incorrect. In four cases, the searches were unsuccessful when the person they were hunting disappeared in the crowds. Overall, in just eight cases was a correct match found, meaning the facial recognition was only successful in 19% of cases. The watchlist itself was also flawed, the researchers said, including out of date information. That led to people being stopped even though their case was already concluded. The Met said its tests were legal and successful in finding suspects. Deputy assistant commissioner Duncan Ball told The Guardian the force was “extremely disappointed with the negative and unbalanced tone of this report.” The Met has carried out ten trials of NeoFace, a facial recognition tech provided by Japanese supplier NEC, over the last three years. That included two tests at Notting Hill Carnival. The force is planning more tests in the future at sporting events and other live occassions in the coming months. Wrongful identification Civil rights NGO Big Brother Watch was outraged at the findings. "This report is an utterly damning conclusion to the police’s dangerous experimentation with live facial recognition. It confirms what we have long warned—it’s inaccurate, lawless and must be stopped urgently,” said director Silkie Carlo. “This China-style surveillance is undemocratic and has no place in Britain.” Big Brother Watch has previously detailed a number of cases where people have been falsely identified. In one case, a 14-year-old boy was recognized by the facial recognition system, accosted, questioned and released within ten minutes after the police realized he was not the person they were after. In another case, a man protested his right to hide his face from a trial of facial recognition. He was subsequently issued with a £90 public order fine for “shouting profanities in public view.” [...]