The House of Commons Science and Technology committee added there should be no further trials of the tech until relevant regulations were in place. It raised accuracy and bias concerns And it warned that police forces were failing to edit a database of custody images to remove pictures of unconvicted individuals. “It is unclear whether police forces are unaware of the requirement to review custody images every six years, or if they are simply ‘struggling to comply’,” the committee’s report said. “What is clear, however, is that they have not been afforded any earmarked resources to assist with the manual review and weeding process.”
As a consequence, the MPs warned, innocent people’s pictures might illegally be included in facial recognition “watch lists” that are used in public spaces by the police to stop and even arrest suspects. The committee noted that it had flagged similar concerns a year ago but had seen little progress from the Home Office since. By contrast, it said, the Scottish Executive had commissioned an independent review into how biometric data should be used and stored.