MPs condemn Frasers Group’s use of facial recognition cameras

Almost 50 MPs and peers have written to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group and condemned the use of “live facial recognition” cameras across its retail estate.

The technology is reportedly in use across various Frasers Group businesses including Sports Direct, Flannels, Frasers, and Jack Wills.

The biometric cameras scan the faces of shoppers and check them against a database of suspected criminals. Staff are then alerted when artificial intelligence (AI) cameras spot an offender. In these instances, staff can either escort offenders from the shop or closely monitor them.

A spokesman for Frasers Group said it was using the cameras "to ensure the safety of our staff and to help prevent theft".

According to reports from The Guardian, the technology has been described as “invasive and discriminatory” by a cross-party collection of MP's including David Davis, John McDonnell and Tim Farron.

“Live facial recognition [LFR] technology has well-evidenced issues with privacy, inaccuracy, and race and gender discrimination. LFR inverts the vital democratic principle of suspicion preceding surveillance and treats everyone who passes the camera like a potential criminal,” the letter argues.

“The technology obtains the facial biometric data – information as sensitive as a fingerprint – of every customer entering the store to check them against your privately created watchlist. This is the equivalent of performing an identity check on every single customer.”

The letter, which was coordinated and co-signed by the privacy groups Big Brother Watch, Liberty and Privacy International, argues that as well as being wrong on principle, facial recognition technology is also “inaccurate and ineffective”.

The letter continues: “To date, 87% of alerts generated by the Metropolitan police’s own live facial recognition system have been inaccurate. The poor accuracy of LFR technology also disproportionately impacts people of colour and women.”