Scotland Yard is looking for actors to join the plan that police say will help them “prevent and detect crime and find wanted criminals”.
A casting call posted online and seen by The Standard reads: “We are looking for a huge crowd of people.
“This is an exercise commissioned by the police, scientific research to test the cameras’ ability to recognize faces.
“The results of the survey will assist the Metropolitan Police Service in fulfilling their public sector equality obligations with regard to the use of face recognition.”
The Star Now ad adds that the police were looking for actors between the ages of 18 and 74 in casual clothes.
It reads: “You will be taking facial photos, videos and selfies with different camera systems to provide data for analysis of facial recognition system performance and differences in performance due to demographics.
“Some photos will be taken with subjects wearing face masks. Images will be captured both indoors and out on the street as you walk through a Live Facial Recognition implementation.”
Human rights group Liberty said they were “aware” of the process when they saw the ad on a casting site.
One activist asked: “If they use actors, why should they use them at Oxford Circus where thousands of people are also passing through.
“For example, their bet last week scanned 15,800 people, so it’s reasonable to assume that a similar number of normal people will also be scanned this time without realizing it, as will the paid actors.”
Protesters from Big Brother Watch and Liberty showed up Thursday afternoon to warn shoppers of the process they called “oppressive and inaccurate.”
Liberty attorney Megan Goulding said: “We should all be able to walk through our streets and public spaces without being viewed, tracked and monitored as a threat. Facial recognition technology is a discriminatory and oppressive surveillance tool that completely undermines this ideal.
“Just two years ago in our milestone legal case, the courts agreed that this technology violates our rights and threatens our freedoms. This expansion of mass surveillance tools has no place on the streets of a democracy that respects rights.
“Facial recognition does not make people safer, it anchors patterns of discrimination and sows division. History tells us that surveillance technology will always be disproportionately used in communities of color and at a time when racism in the UK police has rightly been highlighted there is no justification for using a technology that will make this worse.
“It is impossible to regulate for the dangers created by a technology that is inherently oppressive. The safest and only thing you can do with facial recognition is ban it.”
A message from the official Met Police Twitter account said the cameras would be used “at key locations in Westminster” from noon.
It read: “This technology is being used to prevent crime and find wanted criminals.
“We will be testing our Live Facial Recognition algorithms alongside today’s implementation. This will help us understand more about accuracy and any biases shown. It will inform us how we use facial technology legally and fairly.”
Scotland Yard said volunteers of all ages and backgrounds will walk alongside the public along the facial recognition system.
“Watch lists” will be developed to conduct live facial checks in locations chosen for the likelihood of suspects being caught. These include persons suspected of serious violence, weapons and knife crime and sexual exploitation of children.
Anyone identified by the scans will be approached by officers, asked to identify themselves and arrested if confirmed to be a wanted person.
This period that the Met retains facial data is currently set at three years and is subject to review.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology is being used to prevent and detect crime, locate wanted criminals, protect vulnerable people and protect people from harm.
“We have ongoing legal responsibilities to understand LFR’s performance. Testing allows us to learn more about its accuracy and how best to prevent and detect crime.
“We use our own internal staff and members of the public, who have committed to participate, to best represent people of all ages and backgrounds. These people come from two sources (i) an acting agency and (ii) a cohort of volunteers under the age of 18 from the police cadets.”