(Bloomberg) -- Human rights group Liberty called for a ban on the use of facial-recognition technology after it lost a Welsh case that could have wider implications across the U.K.
Liberty said the court in Cardiff deemed the current legal framework governing facial recognition was adequate, even though it interferes with the privacy rights of anyone viewed by a camera. As many as 500,000 people may have been scanned by South Wales Police since 2017, the campaign group said, in explaining why it supported the case before the Welsh High Court.
“This disappointing judgment does not reflect the very serious threat that facial recognition poses to our rights and freedoms,” Megan Goulding, Liberty's lawyer, said in the statement. “It is time that the Government recognized the danger this dystopian technology presents to our democratic values and banned its use.”
Click here for more: Facial Recognition Sparks Privacy Concerns at U.K. Watchdog
Britain's data regulator warned recently that spying on the public with facial-recognition cameras risks violating the European Union's tough new privacy laws which force organizations to assess and reduce the privacy risks of intrusive surveillance. The U.K. watchdog is already looking into the use of facial-recognition by law enforcement and private sector organizations.
Ed Bridges, the Welshman who brought the initial case in May, will appeal the verdict, supported by Liberty, the group said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Geneva at hugomiller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Peter Chapman, Giles Turner
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