Facial Recognition Mistake Leads to Arrest of Asian Man in Burglary Case
A British Asian man was arrested for a burglary 80 miles away from his home after facial recognition mistook him for another man from a South Asian background, The Guardian reports. In January, 26-year-old Alvi Choudhury was taken in by the police at his parents’ home in Southampton. The burglary took place in Milton Keynes, which is 80 miles (130km) away from his home.
Facial recognition wrongfully arresting man of color
In January, 26-year-old Alvi Choudhury was taken in by the police at his parents’ home in Southampton. The burglary took place in Milton Keynes, which is 80 miles (130km) away from his home.
UK police forces use an algorithm purchased by the Home Office (the UK government’s lead ministerial department for security, immigration, policing, and drugs policy) from the German company Cognitec. 25,000 monthly searches are run against an estimated 19 million police mugshots held on the UK-wide police national database.
Human visual assessment was also a deciding factor in arresting Choudhury, according to the Thames Valley police. Thames Valley police has used live facial recognition technology to scan the public in locations in Oxford, Slough, Reading, Wycombe, and Milton Keynes since December 2025. It has led to six arrests and captured around 100,00 faces.
The use of facial recognition in the UK
Nearly half of the facial recognition in London in 2024 occurred in areas with a higher proportion of Black residents than the city’s average, The Voice Newspaper reports.
Researchers from a political group in London circulated figures showing that live facial recognition (LFR) was used 180 times in 2024. More than half of these occurrences occurred in areas with a Black population larger than the city’s average.
In 2025, the London Metropolitan Police announced that Live facial recognition (LFR) technology would be deployed at Notting Hill Carnival. Police will use LFR cameras to scan for individuals marked as wanted on the Police National Computer and carry out “pre-emptive intelligence-led arrests and searches” of people believed to have weapons or to be selling drugs.
“While people recognise more overt forms of discriminatory over policing, such as stop and search practices, facial recognition technology presents a new threat. Black Londoners are disproportionately surveilled, highlighting a growing racial disparity that often goes unnoticed,” British politician Zoë Garbett said.
Image: Sam Frost/The Guardian
