United KingdomPublic sector2017–2020South Wales Police
AFR Locate live facial-recognition trial
A court ruled South Wales Police's facial-recognition deployment framework unlawful
Problem
South Wales Police wanted to identify wanted people and protect the public by matching faces captured in public places against police watchlists.
Approach
The force began its AFR Locate trial in April 2017. In August 2020, the Court of Appeal found that its framework left excessive discretion over watchlists and deployment locations, its data-protection assessment was deficient, and it had not met its equality duty. The force declined to appeal and said it would incorporate the judgment into operational guidance. The ruling concerned the trial's deployment framework and did not permanently ban facial recognition; the force remained committed to developing the technology.
Results
No published figures
Takeaway
The force's operational framework did not sufficiently constrain who could be watched or where cameras could be deployed. Its equality assessment also fell short of the investigation the court required.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Public sector
- Business function
- Production and qualityFinance, risk and legal
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Regulator, audit or court
Sources
Source summaries
The court allowed the appeal on privacy, data-protection assessment and public-sector equality grounds. It granted declaratory relief concerning the challenged deployments and ongoing use under that framework.
The force accepted the judgment without appealing and described work to revise operational guidance. It defended facial recognition's policing value and said the technology had not caused an unlawful arrest in South Wales.
Full details are in the original sources.