'Cameras a fundamental breach of right to privacy'

Woking councillors have sent a letter to Surrey Police criticising the force's use of facial recognition cameras in the town.

Vans equipped with facial recognition technology were rolled out on the streets of Surrey and Sussex on 13 November.

However, a cross-party group of independent, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors on Woking Borough Council is calling for the scheme to be suspended as they believe it "risks residents' right to privacy" and disproportionately impacts ethnic minority communities.

"It is our responsibility to use every tactic and innovation available to us to keep the public safe," said Surrey Police, adding that two people had already been arrested due to the cameras.

Vans in Surrey and Sussex fitted with cameras which feed into specialist software aim to catch criminals, suspects, and those wanted on recall to prison.

The police have said that images of people not on the watchlist will be instantly deleted from the system, minimising "impact on their human rights".

However, Mr Bonsundy-O'Bryan said the technology "risks dangerous bias, incorrectly misidentifying people from ethnic minority backgrounds and women".

"This decision has been made with minimal consultation or transparency about data processing, sharing, and deletion."

He said that because people could not opt out of being filmed, it was "a fundamental breach of the right to privacy that underpins a free society".

Error rates in early trials reached as high as 81%, with the most severe inaccuracies impacting Black, Asian and ethnic minority individuals, according to the council.

Surrey Police have said that while historically there was potential gender and ethnic bias, this has greatly reduced with technological development and the national algorithm used showed no statistical bias.

The force said the rollout of the technology was meticulously planned, they had engaged with a "wide variety of stakeholders" and all relevant information was on the website.

A spokesperson added: "We have also committed to briefing officers before each deployment regarding any potential disparity to race, age, and gender, and will ensure there is extra corroboration before any action or engagement is taken."

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