Category: News

UK government officials are secretly campaigning to introduce facial recognition technology into high street shops and supermarkets under the guise of combating criminality and ‘protecting the community,’ despite the Court of Appeal arguing the use of facial recognition technology was “unlawful” in 2020

The UK Home Office – responsible for immigration, security, and law and order – has cooperated with the “conservative” British Minister of State for Crime, Policing, and Fire, Chris Philip, and the private firm Facewatch to install cameras in high street shops in London and South Wales.

Proponents of the technology argue it has led to an overall reduction in crime of around 25 percent. A spokesman for the Home Office told The Guardian: “New technologies like facial recognition can help businesses protect their customers, staff and stock by actively managing shoplifting and crime.”

However, critics of the government’s push to use the technology suggest it could lead to a Chinese Communist Party-like rollout, whereby around 500 million facial recognition cameras are constantly used to monitor Chinese citizens, regardless of their criminal background. Other concerns include infringements on individual privacy and freedom to speak and associate freely as well as the overall lack of transparency of a government collecting information and data on its citizens.

“Government ministers should strive to protect human rights, not cosy up to private companies whose products pose serious threats to civil liberties in the UK,” argues the advocacy manager of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, Mark Johnson.

“The UK should seek to emulate the European artificial intelligence act, which would place a ban on the use of facial recognition for surveillance purposes in all public spaces,” Johnson adds.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is looking to restrict the amount of time children can spend on their phones in an effort to create ‘a sense of community of the Chinese nation’ and to counter the growing concerns of Internet addiction.

The Chinese Cyberspace Administration proposed the limit earlier this week, suggesting that all phones will have a “minor mode” option, automatically limiting screen time depending on the child’s age. The CCP claims the restrictions would serve to reduce the consumption of “undesirable information” and promote “good morality” based on socialist values.

Children under eight would be restricted to 40 minutes per day, children between eight and 16 would have an hour, and those between 16 and 18 will be permitted to use their phones for two hours. However, all under 18s would be unable to use their phones between 10 pm and 6 am.

The CCP has made a number of attempts to regulate children’s usage of technology in recent years, highlighting the potential risks of spending too much time online. Last year, the Chinese government introduced a one-hour limit for video games.

Ed Rollins, responsible for the early adopter ‘Ready for Ron PAC,’ has abandoned the Governor of Florida’s collapsing presidential campaign, admitting that DeSantis has been a ‘flawed candidate’ unable to focus on anything else other than the culture war in an interview with the left-wing magazine, Rolling Stone.

Rollins admitted his frustration with DeSantis’s candidacy, and explained the Florida Governor only has himself to blame: “I know some of the people around him, and some of them are good, talented people.”

“Every time he opens his mouth, he has a tendency to — shall we say — think out-loud, and he clearly doesn’t understand the game… When you get into these culture wars the way that he has, the vast majority of people don’t understand what they are,” Rollins continued.

Rollins, in his own words, has spent the last 12 months running thousands of TV ads, creating tens of millions of online connections, and mailing millions of Americans on behalf of the Governor of Florida to little avail as DeSantis continues to slide toward single-digits in the polls.

“A top-to-bottom makeover and real accountability may be the only thing that saves Ron DeSantis, but even then you still have the governor at the top… And it is getting harder and harder by the day to see not just his people as the problem, but him as the problem,” he added.

DeSantis dismissed Rollins’ comments as “nonsense” during a recent appearance on Fox. He also doubled down on his culture war-obsessed campaign, calling it “central to the lives of tens of millions of people.”

WATCH:

WATCH: Brett Baier presses DeSantis on political consultant @EdRollins jumping ship and saying the Governor is a flawed candidate who takes culture wars too far pic.twitter.com/SDVXL8F5r7

— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) August 1, 2023