Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rights groups urge Met Police chief to scrap facial recognition tech systems

Surveillance technology is used more frequently in areas with higher numbers of ethnic minority people, charities claim.

Rights groups urge Met Police chief to scrap facial recognition tech systems

Campaign groups come together to urge the Metropolitan Police to do away with the “privacy-eroding” facial recognition technology.

In an open letter to Sir Mark Rowley, the new commission of the force, 14 charities including Big Brother Watch, Liberty and Black Lives Matter UK, claimed that the technology was “inaccurate and wasteful”.

They said 87 per cent of the alerts generated by the Met’s systems were misidentifications and the technology used by force was “less accurate for women”.

A 14-year-old black schoolboy in uniform and a French exchange student who had only been in the country for a few days were wrongly identified, the charities said.

According to them, the surveillance technology was used more frequently in areas with higher numbers of ethnic minority people.

“During observations at deployments, Big Brother Watch has witnessed multiple false positive matches, which have led to innocent individuals being forced to prove their identity to police officers,” they said in the open letter.

“If the use of this technology becomes more widespread, these incidents will become commonplace, resulting in further injustices and increased public mistrust of the Met,” the campaigners said.

Separately, Liberty said Met Police and South Wales Police spearheaded the police use of the technology in the UK. The forces used the systems to scan hundreds of thousands of faces at protests, sporting events, concerts, public transport and busy shopping streets, it said.

“With ‘live’ police facial recognition, cameras scan everyone in sight, so this data is likely being snatched from you without your knowledge or consent,” the campaign group said, calling it a “gross violation of your human rights.”

Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo said public trust in the police “collapsed” in London and it was further damaged by “repeated use of Orwellian facial recognition technology which is both useless and highly invasive.”

The cameras which did “nothing” to reduce high rates of violent crime, risked putting “our police on a par with those in surveillance states like China and Russia,” Carlo said, maintaining that they had “no place in a democracy.”

More For You

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

Officials greet newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal's interim government Sushila Karki (R) as she arrives at the prime minister's office in Kathmandu on September 14, 2025. (Photo by PRABIN RANABHAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Nepal’s new leader pledges to act on Gen Z calls to end corruption

NEPAL’s new interim prime minister Sushila Karki on Sunday (14) pledged to act on protesters’ calls to end corruption and restore trust in government, as the country struggles with the aftermath of its worst political unrest in decades.

“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said in her first address to the nation since taking office on Friday (12). “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”

Keep ReadingShow less
UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

US president Donald Trump and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links on July 28, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

UK secures £1.25bn US investment ahead of Trump’s visit

THE British government has announced over £1.25 billion ($1.69bn) in fresh investment from major US financial firms, including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global, ahead of a state visit by president Donald Trump.

The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester, and deepen transatlantic financial ties, the Department for Business and Trade said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

Protesters wave Union Jack and St George's England flags during the "Unite The Kingdom" rally on Westminster Bridge by the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nearly 150,000 join anti-migrant protest in London as clashes erupt

MORE THAN 100,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday (13), carrying flags of England and Britain and scuffling with police in one of the UK's biggest right-wing demonstrations of modern times.

London's Metropolitan Police said the "Unite the Kingdom" march, organised by anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson, was attended by nearly 150,000 people, who were kept apart from a "Stand Up to Racism" counter-protest attended by around 5,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal recalled that in February, Narendra Modi and Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trade talks with US moving forward positively, says Indian minister Goyal

INDIA’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that negotiations on the proposed trade agreement between India and the United States, which began in March, are progressing in a positive atmosphere and both sides are satisfied with the discussions.

He recalled that in February, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump had instructed their trade ministers to conclude the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. (Representational image: iStock)

Woman raped in racially aggravated attack in Oldbury

A WOMAN in her 20s was raped in Oldbury in what police are treating as a racially aggravated attack.

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 08:30 BST on Tuesday, September 9, after the woman reported being attacked by two men near Tame Road. Officers said the men made a racist remark during the incident.

Keep ReadingShow less