King's Cross Facial Recognition Technology Under Investigation

15 August 2019, 18:51

The Information Commissioner's Office has said it is "deeply concerned" about the technology.

The UK's data protection watchdog will be launching an investigation into the use of facial recognition technology at King's Cross station over fears it breaks privacy laws.

The Information Commissioner's Office is also currently looking into how the technology is being used and if it contradicts UK data protection laws.

The organisation has said that they are "deeply concerned" over the increased use of the technology.

It was previously discovered that a live face-scanning system was being used across the 67-acre station.

The developer, Argent, has stated that the technology is in place to "ensure public safety" and is one of "a number of detection and tracking methods in place".

However, the company has not disclosed how long the technology has been in place, whether there is legal basis for their use and what systems are in place to protect the data it collects.

The Information Commissioner's Office has stated that, "scanning people's faces as they lawfully go about their daily lives, in order to identify them, is a potential threat to privacy that should concern us all."

"Put simply, any organisations wanting to use facial recognition technology must comply with the law, and they must do so in a fair, transparent and accountable way,"

The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has expressed his concerns, and said that there was "serious and widespread concern" about the legality of facial recognition.