Police testing facial recognition technology

The police are currently testing a facial recognition technology, reported the Finnish language daily Kaleva.

The police will first test the technology on their own personnel and afterwards it will be used to aid in crime investigation.

The facial recognition technology can be used to prevent crime by, for instance, identifying people who use multiple identities, police detective Arto Tuomela from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) told the Kaleva.

According to Tuomela, the face recognition technology would be used in different background registers, such as image banks used by the authorities to compare potential suspects.

Finland will put into effect the EU private policy and data protection directive on criminal matters in May.