Have You Got A Passport

[Canary42]

If yes, are you aware the police are using face recognition software on the passport database seeking villains ?

After the P O software farce, I wonder how many wrong convictions will follow this further intrusion on private information.

 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-police-secretly-conducting-facial-210000089.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink

[ToraToraTora]

How are false convictions going to occur? Any positive matches are merely a starting point to identify names of suspects, further enquiries will ensue.

[ToraToraTora]

...yes I do have a passport.

[douglas9401]

Police appear to be happiest when sitting on their backsides in a warm room gazing at a screen rather than out on the street catching or deterring the baddies who plague us.

PS: they can look at my photo all they like as long as they don't get jealous of my chiselled features.

[retrocop]

Yes I have thank you and if the police are catching villains by using it that can only be for the good. Am I bothered?

[ToraToraTora]

I think it's a very good use of public records. If you have the boat race of a villain and can scan the gov DB with FRS then that's a great help to find them.

[newmodarmy]

The PO Horizon software was in the 1990s back in early days of Blair government

I think things have moved on in terms of technology. But as TTT has said it's only the starting point.

[bhg481]

police can sit in a room and stare at many screens, thus covering a much larger area than a single policeman walking around. Furthermore he can track a person trying to escape without getting out of breath.

[Old_Geezer]

I note with concern the casual way those with a database for one thing are willing to share the data with others whose database the transferred data was not collected for. Presently I try to convince myself that my passport has a photo so maybe this isn't too awful; but clearly it is a step on the slope towards controlling the population that will be available to any future government who decides to be openly oppressive.  As your PO example shows, authorities can not be trusted to have your interest at heart, or even any regards to fairness and justice. We seem to be going the way of China and their like minded friends.

[ToraToraTora]

13:31/35 There won't be any staring at screens they'll use facial comparison software and spit out likely matches.

13:34 I don't see what Horizon has to do with this.

[ToraToraTora]

They do this all the time in the US. It's often portrayed in cops shows etc.

[Vagus]

What a good idea. I'm not a villain so if this helps catch those who are then that can only be a good thing.

[davebro3]

they searched 46 million records 300 times - it really is a danger to our freedoms!🙄

[bhg481]

TTT - I was replying to the argument that staring at a screen was not as effective as walking the street. Face recognition is similar to ANPR in that a single camera can compare the tax/insurance status of far more cars more quickly than a person can.

[naomi24]

I don't mind at all - although whether they'd recognise me from my passport picture is debateable.  It doesn't look much like me.  I'm far more smiley than that.

[Arksided]

I'm sure you do Naomi. lol I look like a thug on mine. and it's expired.

[ToraToraTora]

bhg: "Face recognition is similar to ANPR in that a single camera can compare the tax/insurance status of far more cars more quickly than a person can." - no it's nothing like ANPR. ANPR uses OCR to extract the reg from a picture, it then uses that to look up DVLA records. FRS works by processing the pictures and storing hundreds of data points. The PP DB has no doubt already been processed and the pictures will have a metadata record stored with them containing all the afore mentioned data points. It is then a simple matter to search millions of metadata records and extract likely matches.

[naomi24]

Positively unnatural, Arksided.  :o)))

[Arksided]

Indeed they are Naomi... 😜

[bhg481]

TTT - it is similar in that it can identify many objects quickly and compare the findings with a database to see if there is any particular interest in that object. I did not mean that it used the same method of identification.

[Hopkirk]

Since when is your passport photo 'private information'.

Surely it's the exact opposite.