In the Jason Bourne film franchise, CIA operatives use advanced facial recognition technology to swiftly pick targets out of a busy crowd.
Now it appears a version of the software is coming to the streets of Britain.
Police in Cardiff will use facial recognition to track the 170,000 football fans expected to descend on the city for the Champions League final in June.
South Wales Police has been given £177,000 ($230,000) to pilot the facial recognition technology, which will monitor people on pre-determined ‘watch lists’
These watch lists may include dangerous wanted or missing persons.
Cardiff will host the biggest crowd it has ever welcomed for the June 3 Champions League final match when Real Madrid will take on Juventus at the Millennium Stadium (file photo)
The Welsh capital is gearing up to host the biggest crowd it has ever welcomed for the June 3 match when Real Madrid will take on Juventus at the Millennium Stadium.
Cameras will be placed at strategic locations around the city, allowing officers to monitor people in real time, extracting faces and matching them against a watch list of people.
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Lewis said: ‘The world we live in is changing and with that comes a need to change the way we police.
‘We are investing in ensuring our officers have the tools and technology needed to most effectively protect our communities.
‘As technology evolves into the future, so too will the way our police force operates.
‘This facial recognition technology will enable us to search, scan and monitor images and video of suspects against offender databases, leading to the faster and more accurate identification of persons of interest.’
South Wales Police will be the first force in the UK to use the technology in the field at a large sporting event and it will be used not only on June 3 but throughout the other festivities taking place ahead of and after the main match.
Cardiff is hosting the Uefa Champions Festival from June 1 to 4 in Cardiff Bay and will have two hospitality villages in Bute Park and at Cardiff Castle.
The Uefa Champions League Women’s Final will be held on Thursday June 1 at the Cardiff City Stadium when holders Lyon will take on Paris Saint-Germain.
Mr Lewis said South Wales Police was building ‘checks and balances’ into its use of facial recognition.
In the Jason Bourne film franchise, CIA operatives use advanced facial recognition software to swiftly pick targets out of a busy crowd. Now it appears a real life version of the technology is coming to Britain. Pictured is a still from the film ‘Jason Bourne’ (2016)
Cameras will be placed at strategic locations around the city allowing officers to monitor people in real time, extracting faces and matching them against a watch list of people
It had held discussions with regulatory partners, including the local Information Commissioner’s Office, ‘to ensure that the deployment of this technology is proportionate whilst recognising the need to balance security and privacy’.
South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said it was essential that policing evolved and embraced technology ‘to maintain and support safe, confident communities’.
He said: ‘Our approach to policing is very much centred upon early intervention and prompt, positive action; the introduction of facial recognition helps to support these aims by allowing us to identify vulnerability, challenge perpetrators and reduce instances of offending within environments where the technology is deployed.
‘The introduction of a system such as this will invariably raise certain questions around privacy and whilst I appreciate these concerns I am reassured by the protocols and processes that have been established by the chief constable and operational colleagues to ensure the integrity and legitimacy of its use.’
Experts believe that facial recognition technology will soon overtake fingerprint technology as the most effective way of identifying people (stock image)
Facial recognition identifies people by analysing the shape of a person’s face.
Each face has approximately 80 unique nodal points which distinguishes one from another.
A digital video camera measures the distance between various points on the human face, such as the width of the nose, depth of the eye sockets, distance between the eyes and shape of the jawline.
These points are measured using a numerical code which is then stored in a large database.
This means when someone has their photo taken they can be identified.
Experts believe that facial recognition technology will soon overtake fingerprint technology as the most effective way of identifying people.