Among other things, digital facial recognition technology will be fitted to cars on high streets in UK cities. Photo: Kelvin Chan/TT/AP
Digital technology to track repeat offenders is part of the UK government's drive against shoplifting.
This is a short message from Quartals Guardado – The World Every Day.
According to their own estimates, British shops lose £1bn every year to shoplifting. It caused the English government to make a major effort against piracy. More than £55 million is to be invested in facial recognition, a digital technology that can automatically identify ex-offenders. Guardian.1
Among other things, digital facial recognition technology will be fitted to cars on high streets in UK cities. This is not the only step taken by the government against piracy. A new bill would provide significantly tougher penalties for those caught shoplifting – Imprisonment up to six months and heavy fine.
Facial recognition is already being used
Many of the UK's biggest retail chains already use it – Marks & Spencer, Boots and Primark etc – Facial recognition by matching their surveillance cameras with the police database. Critics of the technology say it could lead to breaches of personal integrity, but store chains say it's a necessary step to catch repeat offenders.
Read today's full cortado here.
Notes
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/10/shoplifting-crackdown-to-include-55m-for-facial-recognition-tools-in-england-and-wales
Johannes Stenlund is a reporter at Quartal.
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