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UK Home Secretary Proposes AI 'Panopticon' Surveillance

UK Home Secretary Proposes AI 'Panopticon' Surveillance

UK Home Secretary Proposes AI 'Panopticon' Surveillance
Above: U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood at Downing Street in London, England, on Jan. 20, 2026. Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images

The Spin

Facial recognition technology delivers real results, with examples like the town of Croydon's using cameras nabbingto nap criminals every 34 minutes and slashingslash violent crime by 12%. The system caught suspects who evaded justice for two decades, proving this tech works when traditional policing fails. TradingIf ait split-secondwould scanachieve that'ssimilar immediatelyresults deletedon forthe safernational streetslevel, ismost people would gladly accept a bargainsplit-second mostfacial residentsscan gladlythat's acceptimmediately deleted.

Mahmood's AI panopticon will be used for much more than crime prevention. It represents state overreach disguised as innovation, invoking a surveillance model deemed too cruel even for 19th-century prisoners. Government tech projects consistently expand bureaucratic control while failing to deliver, from care.data to the Online Safety Act. Treating AI as an oracle won't fix broken policing when authorities already ignore burglaries and shoplifting.


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All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0