By Sean Maguire ( November 3, 2026, 05:49 GMT | Insight) -- The Western Australian Police Force has concluded Australia’s first police trial of live facial recognition, scanning almost 1.4 million faces and reporting 122 arrests, contact with 146 registered sex offenders and nine incorrect alerts. Police say the technology helps detect crime, locate missing people and protect vulnerable people, with unmatched biometric data immediately deleted. Privacy and civil liberties groups challenged the police’s accuracy claims, warned of risks to lawful protest and called for independent testing, verification of data safeguards and stronger legal protections.The Western Australian Police Force has concluded Australia’s first law-enforcement trial of live facial recognition technology, or FRT, after scanning almost 1.4 million faces to identify people of interest, drawing renewed concerns about police surveillance and privacy safeguards....
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