Beyonce Concert In The UK Scanned For Paedophiles And Terrorists

Police have confirmed that a Beyonce concert in the UK was scanned using facial recognition technology for potential paedophiles and terrorist.

Fans who came to see the music star at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in May were facially scanned with faces checked against lists of paedophiles and terrorists.

Attendees were warned that live facial recognition would be used with Police confirming it was announced in advance.

South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said the scanning of crowds of gigs in the UK has become a normal occurrence since the 2017 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester calling the practice “entirely sensible”.

Speaking to MP’s as part of an inquiry into how police forces are tackling crime Michael said: “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding thinking that images are captured and kept – they’re not,”

“The only image that is retained is of an individual who’s identified as being one of the people you’re looking for. When there is a live facial recognition deployment I am informed in advance and told what the watchlist is”.

“It’s an operational decision which I am, in live time, able to review and check.”

The decision to use the technology at Beyonce’s show was due to the “very large numbers of young girls attending that concert”.

The use of the cameras has seen backlash from human rights campaigners citing concerns that the technology “entrenches patterns of discrimination in policing”.