Facial recognition trial in Western Australia scans over 1 million faces, leads to 122 arrests

Western Australia police conducted a five-month trial of real-time facial recognition technology, scanning 1,380,882 faces across 43 regional and metropolitan locations, according to The Guardian.

The trial involved 100 deployments of surveillance vans, which led to 122 arrests and nine false alerts during the operation.

Officers engaged with 146 registered sex offenders as a result of the technology's use throughout the trial period.

The trial concluded on Saturday, marking the end of this phase of facial recognition deployment by WA police.

Authorities will likely evaluate the outcomes of the trial to determine the future use of this surveillance technology.