UK ICO Demands “Urgent Clarity” on Facial Recognition Bias Claims

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has sought urgent answers after the National Physical Laboratory found that the Home Office’s retrospective facial recognition system (Cognitec FaceVACS-DBScan ID v5.5) shows significant demographic bias — false positive rates reported at 0.04% for white subjects versus 4% for Asian and 5.5% for Black subjects — prompting the Home Office to procure a new algorithm for testing and leading policing and civil-society stakeholders to demand greater transparency, independent evaluation, and operational oversight to restore public trust.