Police in Western Australia scanned 1.38 million faces with live facial recognition vans in five months

L2Who’s affected

Everyone passing the vans, including at public demonstrations. Commissioner Col Blanch said of the nine false alerts: "No one was arrested. No one made a complaint." Sarah Schwartz of the Human Rights Law Centre said each false match is "a real person who may be stopped, questioned or investigated because an algorithm got it wrong."

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED It is a state-level Australian policing trial, reported mainly by Australian outlets.

L4Deeper impact

Bill Rowlings of Civil Liberties Australia said police were "severely gilding the lily" and that "We will only know what the incorrect rate is when the 122 people arrested have their day in court." Experts quoted say such systems have historically had higher false-match rates for people with darker skin.

L5Full context

Police say images of people not on the list were pixelated in real time and deleted. The state's privacy watchdog said it was not involved and warned of "collective privacy harms." The vans are off the streets while police evaluate performance and "whether all requirements were met."

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