Plus: Meta launches prototype AI chatbot, and cities reverse facial recognition bans
In brief The UK’s Home Office and Ministry of Justice want migrants with criminal convictions to scan their faces up to five times a day using a smartwatch kitted out with facial-recognition software.
Plans for wrist-worn face-scanning devices were discussed in a data protection impact assessment report from the Home Office. Officials called for «daily monitoring of individuals subject to immigration control,» according to The Guardian this week, and suggested any such entrants to the UK should wear fitted ankle tags or smartwatches at all times.
In May, the British government awarded a contract worth £6 million to Buddi Limited, makers of a wristband used to monitor older folks at risk of falling. Buddi appears to be tasked with developing a device capable of taking images of migrants to be sent to law enforcement to scan.
Location data will also be beamed back. Up to five images will be sent every day, allowing officials to track known criminals’ whereabouts. Only foreign-national offenders, who have been convicted of a criminal offense, will be targeted, it is claimed. The data will be shared with the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, it’s said.
«The Home Office is still not clear how long individuals will remain on monitoring,» commented Monish Bhatia, a lecturer in criminology at Birkbeck, University of London.
«They have not provided any evidence to show why electronic monitoring is necessary or demonstrated that tags make individuals comply with immigration rules better. What we need is humane, non-degrading, community-based solutions.»
Meta has rolled out its latest version of its machine-learning-powered language model virtual assistant, Blenderbot 3, and put it on the internet for anyone to chat with.
