> Live facial recognition will scan the faces of those heading to the “Unite the Kingdom, Unite the West” rally in the borough of Camden, marking the first time the technology has been authorized for use at a protest in the UK. The rally was organized by activist Tommy Robinson who says the rally is for “national unity, free speech and Christian values.”

Let's have a look at Tommy Robinson's Wikipedia article*:

> Robinson has a history of criminal convictions,[5] including for crimes such as assault,[6] threats,[7] harassment,[8] and fraud,[5] as well as contempt of court rulings relating to his videos, and has served five prison terms between 2005 and 2025. In June 2022, Robinson said that he lost £100,000 in gambling before declaring bankruptcy in March 2021. He also said he owed an estimated £160,000 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In August 2024, The Times said that he owed in the region of £2 million to his creditors, and was the subject of a HMRC investigation over unpaid taxes.

The Metropolitan Police are (justifiably) expecting this protest to turn into a violent riot, and have planned accordingly. British police forces have a long-established procedure for collecting CCTV evidence during riots, and then using that to prosecute rioters afterwards.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Robinson

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elzbardico 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is absolutely irrelevant. I don't fucking care whatever the police thinks a protest, any protest should turn into, because I don't want the police to have this power, because it will be abused.

	▲	aliasxneo 31 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Unfortunately the outcome of massive division. People are gullible enough to go along with it while it's not being used against "their people" until it ends up being too late.

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krona 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> The Metropolitan Police are (justifiably) expecting this protest to turn into a violent riot

Robinson has organised 4 London rallies in recent years and this is the second Unite The Kingdom rally. So what makes you think this will be the one which turns violent?

It's basically families listening to speakers on a stage.

	▲	bcraven 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		"Dozens of officers injured as up to 150,000 join Tommy Robinson rally" Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers had "policed without fear or favour", knowing it would be challenging. "There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence." Assistant Commissioner Twist said officers had suffered broken teeth, concussion, a prolapsed disc, a head injury and a possible broken nose. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo

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pessimizer 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes. It's alright to do it when I don't like the person. Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy? Also, I'm sure that the people who don't like him like me, right?

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JumpCrisscross 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> Should a person I don't like really have rights, or privacy?

For a society striking a British balance between security and privacy, I'd say it's fair to require people with violent convictions to (a) register public protests they plan to attend and (b) consent to facial-recognition surveillance in public. (One could hash, locally store and potentially hardware enforce the restriction on the device level.)

That doesn't mean I think it's okay for everyone around him to have to give up those rights. And I wouldn't support even that in America unless the individual is on probation.

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pessimizer 3 hours ago | parent [-]

People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police. Also, if you want to follow somebody around who has "violent convictions," you don't have to release them, you can parole them ("released on license" I think I want to say?)

There's a reason you choose to do this during a political protest.

Also, you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts for some reason? Do you think that they are justified because he, and the people who join him, will be publicly avoiding taxes and bookies?

edit: It's also important to note that in the 15th year of future Reform rule, when a "reformed" Tommy Robinson is appointed Home Secretary, he will entirely support drones doing facial recognition during protests. How else are you supposed to catch the anti-Semites?

	▲	JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> People need to be allowed to speak in public without having their identities recorded by the police Sure. But this isn't an absolute right. To be trivial, you don't have the right to do fraud in public without being recorded by the police. I'm saying for a convicted violent criminal, particularly one with a history of inciting violence, I think there is a place where a reasonable line could exist. > you included a bunch of gambling and tax debts Where did I do this?

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Vaslo 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Hopefully they’ll deploy this technology during leftist rallies as well since we can (justifiably) expect violence at those as well.

	▲	mrighele 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		From the article: > a pro-Palestinian march marking “Nakba Day,” happening in London on the same day with an estimated 30,000 attendees, will not face the same biometric surveillance.
	▲	multjoy 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		[flagged]