UK government faces backlash over £322k AI facial scanning contract to age-check child asylum seekers
By
Matt Kerr
A second-rack bagel that's nearly first-rack. Tasty stuff.
Summary
Campaigners are criticizing the UK Home Office for awarding a £322,000 contract to Akhter Computers to use AI facial scanning technology to estimate the age of unaccompanied child asylum seekers. Critics argue the technology is dangerous, discriminatory, and unreliable for determining age, especially since under-18s are more likely to be granted leave to remain. The government is pushing the initiative as part of broader efforts to tighten asylum processes.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledCampaigners have slammed the government over plans to use 'dangerous and discriminatory' AI facial scanning to guess the age of unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
The Home Office announced today that it had awarded a £322,000 contract to Harlow-based IT firm Akhter Computers to provide 'an algorithm that can accurately predict the age of a subject.'
Many young people seeking asylum arrive in Britain without 'verifiable identity documents,' but age remains a material factor in how some asylum claims are assessed with under-18s more likely to remain.
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