Civil Liberty Groups Warn of Racial Bias and Exacerbated Racial Tensions

The Metropolitan Police’s plans to deploy live facial recognition cameras at the Notting Hill carnival have been met with fierce opposition from civil liberty and anti-racist groups. In a letter to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, 11 organizations have demanded that the technology be scrapped, citing concerns over racial bias and the exacerbation of racial tensions within the force.

The letter, signed by prominent groups such as the Runnymede Trust and Liberty, argues that the use of instant face-matching cameras at the carnival, which celebrates the African-Caribbean community, will unfairly target the very people the event is meant to celebrate. The Met has announced plans to deploy cameras at the approach to and exit from the carnival, with the aim of identifying and intercepting individuals who pose a public safety risk.

However, civil liberty groups claim that the technology is riven with racial bias, with studies showing that it is less accurate for women and people of colour. A report by the National Physical Laboratory found that the Met’s LFR technology, called NeoFace, is less accurate for women and people of colour when deployed at certain settings. The report’s author, Dr Tony Mansfield, acknowledged that “if the system is run at low and easy thresholds, the system starts showing a bias against black males and females combined.”

A study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that software supplied by three companies made mistakes in 21% to 35% of cases for darker-skinned women, compared to less than 1% for light-skinned men. The study highlighted the need for more diverse and inclusive testing of facial recognition technology to mitigate its racial bias.

The Met has insisted that it will only use the technology at settings that demonstrate no racial bias to uncover people wanted for the most serious offences, such as knife crime and sexual assaults. However, civil liberty groups are dismayed to discover that the technology has previously been used by police in Wales to target ticket touts.

The Met has faced criticism over its handling of the Notting Hill carnival, with concerns over its safety and the potential for racial tensions to flare up. The event is still community-led, but senior politicians have expressed concerns about its safety, resulting in demands that it should be moved to Hyde Park or be ticketed to prevent crushes in narrow streets.

The controversy comes as ministers ramp up the deployment of facial recognition technology across England and Wales, with nine forces now using the technology. The Met has said that it will deploy 7,000 officers and staff on each day of the carnival, with screening arches and stop-and-search powers to be used at some of the busiest entry points.

The use of facial recognition technology at the Notting Hill carnival has been met with widespread criticism, with many arguing that it will exacerbate racial tensions and undermine trust in the police. The Met has said that it will only use the technology in a targeted way to identify sex offenders or people wanted for the most serious crimes, but civil liberty groups remain unconvinced.

Shaun Thompson, a Black British man who was wrongly identified as a criminal and held by police, has likened the discriminatory impacts of LFR to “stop and search on steroids.” Thompson’s experience has sparked concerns about the potential for LFR to perpetuate racial profiling and exacerbate existing racial tensions.

The Met’s decision to deploy LFR at the Notting Hill carnival has been described as a “recipe for disaster” by civil liberty groups. The use of the technology at the carnival will only serve to further erode trust in the police and perpetuate racial tensions within the community.

The Met has a history of institutional racism, with a report by Baroness Casey’s independent review finding that the force was institutionally racist. The Met’s handling of the Notting Hill carnival will only serve to reinforce these concerns and undermine efforts to build trust between the police and the community.

In a statement, the Met said that it would only use LFR at settings that demonstrate no racial bias and would only use the technology to identify individuals wanted for the most serious crimes. However, civil liberty groups remain unconvinced and have called for the technology to be scrapped.

The controversy over the use of facial recognition technology at the Notting Hill carnival highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the use of this technology. The Met must ensure that it is using LFR in a way that is fair, transparent, and accountable to the community it serves.

The use of facial recognition technology at the Notting Hill carnival is a stark reminder of the need for greater scrutiny and oversight of this technology. The Met must be transparent about its use of LFR and must ensure that it is using this technology in a way that is fair and accountable to the community it serves.