UK police force presses pause on live facial recognition after study finds racial bias

A Cambridge University study found Essex Police's live facial recognition system was more likely to correctly identify men and, in this test, Black participants, prompting the force to pause deployments while working with the software provider and commissioning further academic assessments; policies have since been revised and the force plans to resume deployments. The article notes the pause was precautionary amid differing study results and places the issue in the context of UK government plans to expand LFR and AI use in policing.