Extract from Question for Short Debate (Lords) on Biometric Recognition Technologies in Schools - Nov 4

Lord Clement-Jones (LD):...The Court of Appeal, in Bridges v the Chief Constable of South Wales Police  the case brought by Liberal Democrat councillor Ed Bridges in south Wales, noted that:

“Biometric data enables the unique identification of individuals with some accuracy. It is this which distinguishes it from many other forms of data.”

Lord Strasburger (LD):...My noble friend Lord Clement-Jones also referenced the police’s use of live facial recognition, which has been going on for five years now with Home Office funding and the Mayor of London’s blessing, despite there being no explicit legal basis and no parliamentary scrutiny. In addition, there has been a judgment in the challenge brought by the Liberal Democrat councillor Dr Ed Bridges, finding that South Wales Police’s use of live facial recognition had been unlawful because appropriate safeguards were not in place. Another factor was the well-documented problems with the technology’s race and sex bias, which has not been appropriately explored and mitigated...

To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE