PLAINTIFF TO APPEAL HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE DECISION APPROVING POLICE USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE PLATFORM

Automated Facial Recognition

Edward Bridges, the British activist who filed the case against the South Wales Police for allegedly violating his rights when it scanned his face with an Automatic Facial Recognition (AFR) camera while he was Christmas shopping in 2017, and later at a protest against the arms trade, has indicated that he will file an appeal of the recent landmark High Court of Justice decision. In that case, the Court held that police use of facial recognition technology was lawful and justified. The decision was very well-reasoned, and fully documented with legal citations to authority, and an appeal on strictly human rights grounds, which is Bridges' principal argument, does not appear to have a good chance of success. 

The appeal will be filed by the civil rights group Liberty, which represents Bridges.  the South Wales Police were reportedly the first law enforcement agency in Britain to employ facial recognition technology; it has used the platform to search for wanted individuals in public events, like football matches and rock concerts. Data on all other individuals not identified is discarded.

Readers who did not review the complete text of the High Court, Queen's bench, decision, should read our article on the case, High Court of Justice approves Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Technology, which contains a hyperlink to the case. You may access it here.