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Critics have branded the nationwide rollout of live facial recognition technology as another move towards a “total surveillance society”.
The Home Office has announced that ten more vans fitted with high-tech cameras will be deployed across the country to catch “high-harm” offenders as part of a government overhaul of neighbourhood policing.
Alongside the expansion, the government will simultaneously consult on how the technology should be used and what appropriate safeguards and oversight are needed to shape a new legal framework for its use.
However, Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti, former director of human rights group Liberty, has warned of privacy concerns and the risk of false matches.
“Some would say this is yet another move towards a total surveillance society,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
And Campaign group Big Brother Watch has warned the latest rollout “treats us all as a nation of suspects”.
Baroness Chakrabarti said its use raises issues around “challenges to privacy, challenges to freedom of assembly and association, and problems with race and sex discrimination because of the higher likelihood of false matches in the context of certain groups”.
She also accused the police of deploying the powerful technology “completely outside the law” in recent years as she welcomed news the government would consult on legislation.
“It’s pretty clear to me that, as I say, it’s been a bit of a wild west,” she added. “The police procuring the technology from whichever companies they see fit, the police drawing up watch lists of who they’re looking for and what level, what severity of crime should be sufficient for a deployment, and pretty much marking their own homework.”
Big Brother Watch has warned that police currently rely on a “patchwork of existing laws” to justify its use and noted MPs have never voted to authorise it.
They are currently supporting a Judicial Review against the Metropolitan Police following the misidentification of an anti-knife crime community worker in February 2024, who was held and questioned by police.
Their interim director, Rebecca Vincent, called for the Home Office to scrap the wider rollout until “robust legislative safeguards are established”
“This unprecedented escalation in the use of facial recognition technology across the UK is alarming and represents a significant expansion of the surveillance state,” she added.
“Live facial recognition turns every passerby into a walking barcode and treats us all as a nation of suspects.”
Some 10 vans equipped with cameras will be rolled out across seven police forces – Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Hampshire – over the coming weeks.
They will be manned by trained officers and individual forces will decide how and when they are deployed in their areas, operating within the College of Policing guidance.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said they would be focused on identifying sex offenders or “people wanted for the most serious crimes who the police have not been able to find”.
“The algorithm being used in the vans has been independently tested and will only be operated in specific circumstances and with robust oversight,” the Home Office said.
Chief Superintendent Tim Morgan of South Wales Police, which is co-ordinating the rollout alongside the National Police Chiefs’ Council, sought to reassure the public that the technology would be used “ethically”.
“We understand the concerns which are raised about the use of live facial recognition technology and we use any new technology ethically and spend time and effort making sure it’s deployed in line with all legislation and guidance,” he said.
“It is important to remember that use of this has never resulted in a wrongful arrest in South Wales and there have been no false alerts for several years as the technology and our understanding has evolved.”
Lindsey Chiswick, NPCC lead for facial recognition, said live facial recognition had already been used “to great success, locating thousands of wanted offenders, or others breaching their bail conditions.”
“I am confident that the increased use of this technology will continue to support the safety of communities across the country moving forward,” she said.
Forces already deploying live facial recognition have used it to arrest rape, domestic abuse, knife crime and robbery suspects as well as sex offenders breaching their conditions.
Meanwhile, the Home Office said every community across England and Wales has now been assigned a “named, contactable” officer to handle reports of crimes like anti-social behaviour.
Their details will be made available for residents on their local force’s website, it is understood.
The pledge was made as part of the government’s previously announced Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, under which forces have signed up to a commitment to respond to neighbourhood queries within 72 hours.
The government said the move would help ensure “the public will have consistent direct links to their local force, with dedicated anti-social behaviour leads and new visible patrols in town centres”.