GoKawiilTomorrow, the Metropolitan Police will turn biometric surveillance cameras on people attending a political demonstration in London.
Live facial recognition will scan the faces of those heading to the “Unite the Kingdom, Unite the West” rally in the borough of Camden, marking the first time the technology has been authorized for use at a protest in the UK. The rally was organized by activist Tommy Robinson who says the rally is for “national unity, free speech and Christian values.”
Drones will fly overhead, scanning for suspects from above.
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Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said Live Facial Recognition (LFR) “will be deployed in the London borough of Camden in an area likely to be used by those attending the Unite the Kingdom event,” but a pro-Palestinian march marking “Nakba Day,” happening in London on the same day with an estimated 30,000 attendees, will not face the same biometric surveillance.
Biometric identification has jumped from high streets to political assembly and, once that barrier falls, the question is never whether it will be used more broadly. It’s when.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage responded to the deployment. “The Unite the Kingdom rally on Saturday should be treated no differently to the pro-Palestinian march on the same day,” Farage said. “The fact that two-tier justice is being applied against patriotic Britons is disgraceful.”
The Met justified its decision by citing “intelligence which indicates that there is likely to be a threat to public safety from some who might be in attendance.” It turns an entire protest into a surveillance zone based on the expected behavior of an unspecified portion of attendees. Everyone walking through Camden tomorrow afternoon gets their face compared against a watchlist, whether they’re a suspected criminal or someone who just showed up with a flag.
This deployment at a protest doesn’t exist in isolation. Two days before announcing LFR at the rally, the Met published results from a six-month pilot in Croydon that signals where facial recognition in Britain is heading.
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