Story perspectives

Home Office pushes flawed £322k facial age system.

6/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Home Office proceeded with a facial-age-estimation system despite warnings and awarded a £322,000 contract to Akhter Computers for asylum seekers.
Testing showed the system misclassifies over one-third of 16-year-olds as adults—up to 70 % with low-quality photos—and gives female Sub-Saharan migrants age estimates off by 4.6 years.
Sixty organisations signed an open letter urging a halt to the rollout, citing discrimination and the disbanding of the Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee.

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Story summary

The Home Office proceeded with a facial-age-estimation system despite warnings and awarded a £322,000 contract to Akhter Computers for asylum seekers.
Testing showed the system misclassifies over one-third of 16-year-olds as adults—up to 70 % with low-quality photos—and gives female Sub-Saharan migrants age estimates off by 4.6 years.
Sixty organisations signed an open letter urging a halt to the rollout, citing discrimination and the disbanding of the Age Estimation Science Advisory Committee.