The use of controversial facial recognition technology will be ramped up by police under government plans.
Ministers are launching a 10-week consultation asking for views on how the tech should be regulated to protect people’s privacy.
The government also plans to create a new regulator overseeing facial recognition, as well as biometrics and other tools.
The Home Office spent £12.6m on facial recognition last year, and policing minister Sarah Jones said its capabilities offer the “biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching”.
But civil liberties campaigners say its use is “out of control”, and turning Britain “into an open prison with surveillance of the general population”.
The Metropolitan Police used the technology to make 1,300 arrests over the last two years, and found more than 100 registered sex offenders breaching their licence conditions, Home Office figures show.
However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission described the force’s policy on using live facial recognition as “unlawful” earlier this year. Its deployment at protests could also have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights, the watchdog said.
Man jailed for murder of family friend in act of ‘unimaginable depravity’
Rapist with ‘sense of entitlement to sex’ jailed for 10 years
Man jailed over £1m Rolex and luxury watch fraud
Nonetheless, a Met spokeswoman said the force believes its use is “both lawful and proportionate, playing a key role in keeping Londoners safe”.
The new consultation is collecting views on what safeguards are needed to ensure people’s confidence, and whether use of these powers is proportionate. The findings will inform new laws governing the use of facial recognition.
Already the proposed expansion of the technology is sparking debate.
Former head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Neil Basu, said live facial recognition offered a “massive step forward for law enforcement”.
He said: “The live facial recognition system was, but no longer is, discriminatory, but it will still require proper legal safeguards and oversight by the surveillance commissioner.”
Susannah Drury, director of policy and development at charity Missing People, saw an additional use for the technology.
She said: “Facial recognition technology could help to ensure more missing people are found. However, we need to better understand the ethical implications, and what safeguards must be put in place for this technology to be used safely.”
Others were more sceptical.
Akiko Hart, director of Liberty, said: “The public is finally getting a chance to have its say on this surveillance tech, but it’s disappointing the Home Office is starting a consultation with a pledge to ramp up its use.”
Read more:
Met Police: More than 1,000 arrests used live facial recognition
Facial recognition vans to be rolled out across England
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberty group Big Brother Watch, said: “Facial recognition surveillance is out of control, with the police’s own records showing over seven million innocent people in England and Wales have been scanned by police facial recognition cameras in the past year alone.”
