UK passport check interprets lips as open mouth
An automated passport photo checker facial detection system run by the UK Home Office mistook the 'big lips' of a young Black man hoping to renew his passport for an open mouth, resulting in his application being refused. The incident prompted Joshua Bada to share his experience online, leading to accusations of algorithmic bias and racism. The UK's Race Equality Foundation said it believed the system was not tested properly to see if it would actually work for black or ethnic minority people, calling it 'technological or digital racism'. A New Scientist report published one month after Bada's incident revealed that the Home Office system was known to fail for people with dark skin, but that it decided to use it regardless. The documents had been released following a Freedom of Information request by MedConfidential. System 🤖 Unknown Operator: Passport applicants Developer: Country: UK Sector: Govt - immigration Purpose: Check photo compliance Technology: Facial detection Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Bias/discrimination - race, ethnicity
- Date it happened
- 2019-09-01
- Organisation involved
- UK Visas and Immigration
This incident was imported from AIAAIC and is used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.