Police to start using live facial recognition in county
It is being used later this week.
Lancashire Police is to start using live facial recognition technology in Blackpool this week.
It will be deployed for the first time on Friday during the Illuminations Switch-On event, to help identify people wanted for serious offences.
Ch Supt Chris Hardy, of Lancashire Police, said: “LFR compares faces captured on a live camera feed against a predetermined, secure watchlist of individuals wanted for serious offences, subject to court orders, or who pose a risk to the public or to themselves.
“When the system identifies a possible match, a police officer will compare the image on screen with the person in view and decide whether to speak to them. This decision will always be made by an officer, not the technology.
“Officers will always explain why they have engaged with someone and provide an information leaflet with contact details.
“I want to be clear with people – we take your privacy very seriously - if you are not on a watchlist we will never store your biometric data from passing through the LFR zone of recognition. It is immediately and automatically deleted, ensuring privacy is protected.
“Any further images are deleted within 24 hours after each day of deployment and CCTV footage is deleted within 31 days, the same as standard public cameras.”