It has been revealed that the United Kingdom's government-owned Network Rail has been utilizing security cameras with built-in artificial intelligence to covertly collect data about passengers at some of the busiest stations across the country. The data, which included age, gender, and emotions, was allegedly then sent to Amazon Rekognition.
The program, which has allegedly been going on for two years was exposed via a Freedom of Information request by Big Brother Watch, a British civil rights group.
"Network Rail had no right to deploy discredited emotion recognition technology against unwitting commuters at some of Britain's biggest stations," Head of Research & Investigations Jake Hurfurt said, per the Daily Mail. "It is alarming that as a public body it decided to roll out a large-scale trial of Amazon-made AI surveillance in several stations with no public awareness, especially when Network Rail mixed safety tech in with pseudoscientific tools and suggested the data could be given to advertisers."
He admitted that technology "can have a role to play in making the railways safer," but maintained that, "there needs to be a robust public debate about the necessity and proportionality of tools used."
"AI-powered surveillance could put all our privacy at risk," he warned, "especially if misused, and Network Rail's disregard of those concerns shows a contempt for our rights."
Hurfurt also revealed that he had submitted a complaint to the UK's Information Commissioner. In response, ICO deputy commissioner Stephen Bonner said that "developments in the biometrics and emotion AI market are immature," conceding, "they may not work yet, or indeed ever."
"While there are opportunities present, the risks are currently greater," he added. "As it stands, we are yet to see any emotion AI technology develop in a way that satisfies data protection requirements, and have more general questions about proportionality, fairness and transparency in this area."
Bonner vowed that the ICO would "continue to scrutinize the market" and ensure that privacy rights are unheld.
