Facial recognition trial in London stations cost £320,000 - and led to no arrests

A six-month live facial recognition technology (LFR) trial in London’s railway stations has been found to have led to one false match against a watchlist of suspects - and no arrests.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed the technology will be used on the newly pedestrianised Oxford Street.

A report from parliament’s joint committee on human rights, which called on the government to address the threat of artificial intelligence to human rights, said that the rollout of LFR technology was a “particularly clear example of risk”.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy PA Wire Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill Bell Ribeiro-Addy said: “Live facial recognition technologies are a serious invasion of our privacy.

As these arrests did not result directly from an LFR alert, they are not included within LFR performance data.