Despite the overriding concerns over facial recognition cameras in Europe, the UK seems to be adamant that the technology provides safety.
At BBC reports, fans attending the Beyoncé show in Cardiff on Wednesday were scanned by live face recognition cameras used in the area by South Wales Police.
This technology will help identify people wanted for “priority offences”, the authorities explained. Although live recognition cameras are still widely used at large-scale events, last time during the Coronation of King Charles, it has been condemned by human rights campaigners. The members of the European Parliament recently voted on the ban of Big Brother, real-time facial recognition technology. Meanwhile, expert in the surveillance field Fraser Sampson said more work needs to be done to check for bias in the use of the technology.
Beyoncé’s Principality Stadium concert took place in Cardiff, Wales, on 17 May 2023. It was attended by nearly 60,000 fans, BBC reports.
In response to the concerns, South Wales Police assured that the biometric data is immediately deleted if an attendee is not on a watch list. The CCTV footage is recorded and kept for up to 31 days.
