South Wales Police have scanned the faces of hundreds of thousands of unassuming concert goers in Cardiff this summer.
By Ben Jones
It has already been an exciting time for fans of live music in Cardiff recently, with the last couple of months alone seeing the capital host to performances from stars such as Harry Styles, Beyoncé, Rag’n’Bone Man and Queens of the Stone Age.
Amongst all of the bustle and excitement however, concerns of human right breaches have tainted the atmosphere. At Beyoncé’s sold-out Cardiff show in May, which saw the acclaimed artist kick off the UK leg of her much lauded Renaissance Tour, South Wales Police employed the use of near-constant live facial recognition vans, which recorded hours upon hours of footage. A month later, the same was used at Harry Styles’ own string of concerts at the Principality Stadium.
With the help of AI, the controversial technology compiles and then compares footage against a ‘watch list’ of known offenders – regardless of offence – to catch those currently wanted, or already known to police. While the exact biometric data of those not on the ‘watch list’ will be ‘immediately deleted’ according to South Wales Police, the footage recorded by the camera vans will be stored for up to 31 days.
On South Wales Police’s FAQ page, however, it is noted that the general public cannot opt out of being subjected to the measures, as the website details: the specific purpose of deploying LFR is to identify individuals wanted for priority offences, enforce the law, and safeguard children and vulnerable persons at risk.
Documents published on the SWP’s website after both events reveal the scale of facial data scraping. At Beyoncé’s show on the 17th of May 2023 that a total of 86,152 faces were detected. Of those faces, zero were shown to flag up against the force’s watchlist. No arrests were made.
At Harry Styles’ back to back shows on June 20th and June 21st, a total of 250,204 faces were detected, a staggering figure, closer to 50% of the average population figure for the whole of Cardiff in 2023. From that combined figure only one positive alert was sounded, which didn’t result in an arrest.
So what is the point of scanning hundreds of thousands of faces?
Human rights group Liberty has criticised the deployment of the technology in the past, raising concerns about privacy and discrimination. .
South Wales Police has previously come under fire for its use of facial recognition software, in a case which ruled their use of it ‘unlawful’.
The Case of Ed Bridges: what happened?
In 2019, Ed Bridges, a local resident of Cardiff and human rights campaigner, challenged South Wales Police’s use of live facial recognition technology. He argued that it violated privacy rights, data protection and equality laws. The force had employed the technology over sixty times since May 2017, potentially gathering sensitive facial biometric data from 500,000 people without their consent.
In September 2019, the High Court ruled that although facial recognition intrudes upon privacy rights, the existing legal framework provided sufficient safeguards. Disagreeing with the decision, Bridges appealed with the campaign group Liberty.
In August 2020, the Court of Appeal upheld Liberty’s arguments and found South Wales Police’s use of facial recognition technology in breach of privacy rights, data protection laws, and equality laws. The judgement forced the leading police force to halt its long-running trial.
The Court identified “fundamental deficiencies” in the legal framework, recognizing Bridges’ rights as being violated. The landmark ruling sparked discussions about the regulation of facial recognition technology and emphasised the need for stronger safeguards to protect individuals’ rights and privacy.
Almost three years on, however, and the technology is still being used on an incredible scale. While over 335,000 faces were scanned and processed between the two concerts in total, no arrests were made and only one face alerted the system.
While it is a legal requirement for the SWP to alert the public online as to where and when the technology is next deployed – which you can find in full here – a number of those who attended the concerts were clueless. Olivia, a student from Cardiff said: “I’ve heard of technology being used at events, but facial recognition? It’s a bit surprising, but I guess it shows how advanced technology is becoming a part of our lives. It is both fascinating and slightly unsettling at the same time.”
This all comes amidst a recent European Court Human Rights ruling where the use of facial recognition as a tool for police to employ during protests was evaluated. It was found that its use to identify and arrest protesters was ‘not necessary’ in a democratic society, and described the technology as ‘particularly intrusive’
The implications for the same software being so widely used at public events is deeply concerning, as Ed Bridges explains: “South Wales Police know from the appeal court judgement in my case that their use of this technology is deficient, and yet they persist in using it at public events, scanning the faces of thousands of people going about their everyday business – including those just passing by. This technology is discriminatory and flawed, as evidenced by this week’s ECHR judgement.”
According to Bridges, the UK Government and its Biometrics Commissioner are currently locked in a fierce battle over facial recognition technology.
The Commissioner expresses scepticism and caution, while the government is determined to push ahead regardless of the costs involved.
The battle to challenge the ever-insidious presence of facial recognition technology continues.
