"The UK is "veering dangerously close to becoming a police state" because of facial scanners being used in high streets, MPs have heard.

Calls have been mounted for live facial recognition technology to be halted amid questions over accuracy and privacy. The software - currently being deployed in London, South Wales and Essex - allows officers to scan the faces of passers-by and check them against watchlists.

Several MPs raised concerns about software misidentifying innocent members of the public - particularly Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said: "We're veering dangerously close to becoming a police state with levels of surveillance that would only be deemed acceptable in the most autheritarian police states. It's not a matter of 'those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear', it's a matter of our basic privacy."

She pointed to research by campaign group Big Brother Watch which found 89% of facial recognition alerts to date wrongly identified members. Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said current software is far more accurate."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/uk-veering-towards-police-state-34098123

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