Fraser Sampson, who will end his term as the Home Office’s biometrics and surveillance commissioner this month, said there “isn’t much not being watched by somebody” in the UK and that the regulatory framework was “inconsistent, incomplete and in some areas incoherent”.
In 2012, the high court ordered police forces to destroy custody photographs of people who were never charged with a crime, including environmental activists, but Sampson said they had yet to be deleted, raising concerns that the images could be used for crowd surveillance by AI-assisted systems.
Sampson said the sheer weight of images captured by official cameras and those of the general public and shared online offered police forces a powerful tool in light of the advances in AI.
Last week the Guardian revealed that Hikvision, the Chinese surveillance manufacturer, was recommitting to the UK after receiving a clarification from the government that its cameras would be prohibited only from “sensitive” sites such as defence and intelligence facilities, despite an acknowledgment that the state-owned firm poses a security risk.
The spokesperson said: “During Prof Sampson’s tenure in office, Hikvision has met with dozens of UK government officials, members of parliament, and previous national biometric and security camera commissioners.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is committed to making sure the police have the tools and technology they need to solve and prevent crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe.
The original article contains 934 words, the summary contains 235 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Fraser Sampson, who will end his term as the Home Office’s biometrics and surveillance commissioner this month, said there “isn’t much not being watched by somebody” in the UK and that the regulatory framework was “inconsistent, incomplete and in some areas incoherent”.
In 2012, the high court ordered police forces to destroy custody photographs of people who were never charged with a crime, including environmental activists, but Sampson said they had yet to be deleted, raising concerns that the images could be used for crowd surveillance by AI-assisted systems.
Sampson said the sheer weight of images captured by official cameras and those of the general public and shared online offered police forces a powerful tool in light of the advances in AI.
Last week the Guardian revealed that Hikvision, the Chinese surveillance manufacturer, was recommitting to the UK after receiving a clarification from the government that its cameras would be prohibited only from “sensitive” sites such as defence and intelligence facilities, despite an acknowledgment that the state-owned firm poses a security risk.
The spokesperson said: “During Prof Sampson’s tenure in office, Hikvision has met with dozens of UK government officials, members of parliament, and previous national biometric and security camera commissioners.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is committed to making sure the police have the tools and technology they need to solve and prevent crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe.
The original article contains 934 words, the summary contains 235 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!