Essex police pause facial recognition camera use after study finds racial bias

Essex police have suspended live facial recognition (LFR) deployments after a University of Cambridge study found the system was statistically significantly more likely to correctly identify black participants than other ethnic groups, raising fairness concerns. The ICO revealed the pause and warned other UK forces to mitigate accuracy and bias risks. Possible causes include algorithm overtraining on black faces, and experts believe system adjustments could address the issue.