Embedding facial recognition surveillance in a city-wide CCTV network represents a shocking expansion of police surveillance, and turns Cardiff into an Orwellian zone of biometric surveillance. This unprecedented use of the technology could pave the way for the mass rollout of permanent facial recognition surveillance across the UK. Live facial recognition technology turns us into walking barcodes and makes us a nation of suspects. This network of facial recognition cameras will make it impossible for Cardiff residents and visitors to opt-out of a biometric police identity check.

  • @[email protected]
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    2015 hours ago

    Has the UK always been so dystopian or is this a new thing and if so why? Crime can’t be worse than the US.

    • Random Dent
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      1113 hours ago

      Brit here. It’s always been like this, at least for my whole lifetime. I remember in the 90s they were trying to get biometric ID cards going with people’s fingerprints and retina scans on them, and the government has been pretty consistent with trying to undermine encryption, harvest everyone’s metadata etc. Best I can tell, we seem to be the testing ground for any Orwellian nonsense that gets dreamed up, before it gets shipped out to the States and other places.

    • @asbestos
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      15 hours ago

      Seems like they’re by far the worst in Europe, and maybe even worse than USA

      • @[email protected]
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        914 hours ago

        by far the worst in Europe

        In terms of dystopian government overreach or crime rate? Because the crime rate is surely not the worst. The overreach tho is pretty bad. They constantly try to break encryption, they try to force people to ID themselves for online services, incarcerate peaceful protesters for years, etc.

        Assange is a great example of how fucking horrible their government can be.

    • @PixellatedDave
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      18 hours ago

      Millions of cameras everywhere. It’s been like it for years now…

    • @jqubed
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      614 hours ago

      I suppose there’s a reason a Brit wrote 1984?