As facial recognition spreads across police forces and retail stores, UK biometrics commissioners are warning that national oversight is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid expansion.
Last year, the Home Office admitted facial recognition cameras were more likely to incorrectly identify black and Asian people than their white counterparts, and women more than men, and there have been conflicting studies on their overall accuracy.
The company’s website claims that its system has a 99.98% accuracy rate
99.98% accuracy of the people it flags as shoplifters or 99.98% accuracy overall? And if the latter then what proportion of the population are even shoplifters? Could you achieve similar levels of “accuracy” by saying nobody is a shoplifter? Maybe throw in a few positives here and there to make it look like your product does something other than harass the public?
Let’s not overlook yet another insidious part of it:
Home Bargains eventually issued him an apology and a £100 voucher as a “gesture of goodwill without admission”, on the condition that the details of the incident remain confidential. Clayton declined: “I just thought: ‘Really, you’re trying to buy my silence?’”
Trying to buy his silence is insulting enough, but they offer a pitiful amount and can’t even be bothered to offer actual currency?
I suppose all we can do is refuse to shop in the stores that use this. But, we need to do it now. Because, soon, every store will use this, and we won’t have a choice.
I suppose if they keep getting false positives, they’ll make some change, but who knows?
just cut their internet from the outside before going in… then pay cash. you know none of this is being ran locally