Facial recognition to be used by more police forces than ever

Police forces across the country are launching an unprecedented rollout of Orwellian facial recognition technology. Civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has condemned the move as a “frightening expansion” of the technology and branded it as:

worrying for our democracy.

The Home Office has announced that seven more police forces are buying their own live facial recognition technology. Forces in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Surrey, Sussex, Bedfordshire, Thames Valley, and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will use the new surveillance technology. And, they’ll be joining South Wales Police, Essex Police and the Metropolitan Police in having the mass-surveillance capability.

Facial recognition intrusion

Evidently, there is a huge expansion of live facial recognition capabilities across the country. However, that’s in spite of the fact that MPs have never voted to authorise their use. Instead, police rely on a patchwork of existing laws to justify its use. Ultimately, forces are left to set their own policies about when and where live facial recognition can be used.

The rollout also comes as the Metropolitan Police face a judicial review about the lawfulness of their use of live facial recognition. In a legal case supported by Big Brother Watch, anti-knife crime community worker Shaun Thompson was held and questioned by police in February 2024. However, Thompson claims to have been misidentified via the use of this surveillance technology.

South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police have been using live facial recognition sporadically since 2016. But, in recent years their usage has significantly increased. Both forces are now planning to install permanent live facial recognition cameras in urban centres. That’s an unprecedented expansion of surveillance in a democratic country. Essex Police also purchased its own live facial recognition capability in 2024.

Opponents of the technology are also concerned about who ends up on police facial recognition watchlists, which can include victims of crime and “vulnerable” people as well as suspects. There have been cases of protesters not wanted for any crime and people with mental health issues featuring on these lists.

“Alarming”

Interim Director of Big Brother Watch, Rebecca Vincent, said:

This unprecedented escalation in the use of facial recognition technology across the UK is alarming, and represents a significant expansion of the surveillance state. Live facial recognition turns every passerby into a walking barcode and treats us all as a nation of suspects.

Vincent explained that police have unrestrained use of the technology:

Police have interpreted the absence of any legislative basis authorising the use of this intrusive technology as carte blanche to continue to roll it out unfettered, despite the fact that a crucial judicial review on the matter is pending.

This move is not only worrying for our privacy rights, it is worrying for our democracy. The Home Office must scrap its plans to roll out further live facial recognition capacity until robust legislative safeguards are established.

Featured image via Unsplash/King’s Church International