I hope all our readers in the U.S. had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and we send our thanks and wishes to everyone who have fought to safeguard our way of life and their families. Excellent crypto currency interview on Tomorrows Bob Pritchard Radio Show. Don’t miss it.
Facial recognition cameras are increasing in Britain and the U.S., watching, tracking and identifying you everywhere you go?
Our faces are being scanned and subjected to a digital police lineup we don’t even know about. There are over 6 million surveillance cameras in the U.K. – more per citizen than any other country in the world, except China. In the U.K., biometric photos are taken and stored of people whose faces match with criminals – even if the match is incorrect.
In the UK, police watch locals with facial recognition cameras fixed to unmarked vans parked on the street. Protesters hold placards, hand out leaflets and speak to members of the public about their views. Frequently, plainclothes police monitor how people responded to the leaflets and signs. They are tasked to stop people who avoid the facial recognition cameras. People who covered their have their photo taken and have to hand over ID.
The U.K. is adopting surveillance technologies in a style more typical of China than of the West. Police in England and Wales have used facial recognition to surveil peaceful protests and people with mental health problems. No other police force in Europe is using live facial recognition for public surveillance.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., districts are bringing forward bans on live facial recognition. San Francisco, home to Silicon Valley, passed a hugely symbolic ban on law enforcement agencies using facial recognition just this week. With an increase in international and domestic terrorism, not to mention violent crime in a country with 360 million people and 393 million guns in the hands of its residents, the question is “can have security without living in a security state”.
London’s Metropolitan Police is deciding whether they will adopt facial recognition for good, the floodgates will be open to police forces around the UK deploying the surveillance too. Watchdog groups will step in and start legal proceedings if they decide to continue using facial recognition. we will take them to court. They plan to emulate San Francisco to set a precedent that authoritarian surveillance has no place in Europe.
The U.K. and U.S. have entrenched protections for citizens from arbitrary state interference, but with live facial recognition, these standards are being eroded under the banner of technological “innovation.”
Is the ban in Silicon Valley, while symbolic, a turning point for civil liberties and technology? Will the U.K., take the same path?
Which choice will the public make? Will they choose limited loss of liberty over protection against potential danger? Or vice versa. Fifty years ago, my mother used to say, “if you do nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear”. To what extent is that still true?
I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now