Walk into a shop with the wrong face on file, and the police could know within four seconds. That is the pitch, and the problem.
A facial recognition system in more than 100 UK shops is about to start calling the police in real time. It will fire the moment it spots a flagged shopper. Facewatch, whose cameras already watch aisles in Sainsbury’s, B&M and Spar, calls it a UK first. Civil liberties groups call it a dangerous escalation.
The Guardian revealed the feature. Facewatch says it will “alert police instantly when the most serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match”. The tool launches in autumn.
Chief executive Nick Fisher called it a “unique technical development”. He says it warns police in an average of four seconds when the “worst offenders” hit a match on the network.
From watching to summoning
