Black British anti-knife crime activist Shaun Thompson, 38, has launched a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police.
The police detained the 38-year-old after live facial recognition technology wrongly identified him as a suspect.
‘Stop and search on steroids’
Thompson, who volunteers with the Street Fathers youth outreach group, described the system as ‘stop and search on steroids’ following his 20-minute detention at London Bridge station earlier this year.
Returning from a volunteer shift in south London, Thompson was wrongly flagged as a suspect on the Met’s facial recognition database, leading him to be held for almost 30 minutes by the police.
Thompson told the BBC he was only let go after handing over a copy of his passport but had previously been asked to give fingerprints.
“It felt intrusive,” he told the BBC. “I was treated guilty until proven innocent.”
Read: UK Politicians And Race Equality Groups Urge “Immediate Stop” To Live Facial Recognition Surveillance
Legal review of the facial recognition technology
According to MyLondon, Thompson reflected on the incident and called the technology ‘flawed’ and said he felt like he was being treated as ‘guilty until proven innocent.’
He has put in an application for a judicial review of the use of the technology,
BBC Newsnight reported that the mistake may have been caused by a family resemblance, but the Metropolitan Police declined to comment.
#blacktech #entrepreneur #tech #afrotech #womenintech #supportblackbusiness #blackexcellence #technology #blackbusiness #blacktechmatters #blackowned #blackgirlmagic #blackpreneur #startup #innovation #hbcu #techtrap #blackownedbusiness #pitchblack #autographedmemories #blacksintech #shopblack #wocintech #nba #blackwomen #repost #hbcubuzz #blackwomenintech #startupbusiness #nails
Source link
