The UK’s equality regulator has criticised the Metropolitan Police’s use of reside facial recognition expertise (LFRT), saying the way in which it’s being deployed is breaching human rights regulation.
The tech works by scanning the faces of individuals recorded on CCTV after which evaluating them in opposition to a watchlist of people that the police are searching for.
The Met says it has made greater than 1,000 arrests since January 2024 utilizing LFRT and is assured it makes use of it in a lawful approach.
However the Equality and Human Rights Fee (EHRC) says the tech ought to solely be utilized in a crucial and proportionate approach, and is arguing “the Metropolitan Police’s present coverage falls in need of this normal.”
The EHRC has been granted permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial evaluation into the pressure’s use of the surveillance instrument.
John Kirkpatrick, chief government of the EHRC, acknowledged the tech may very well be used assist to fight critical crime and preserve folks protected.
However he added in a press release: “There should be clear guidelines which assure that reside facial recognition expertise is used solely the place crucial, proportionate and constrained by applicable safeguards. We imagine that the Metropolitan Police’s present coverage falls in need of this normal.”
A Met Police spokesperson advised the BBC: “A judicial evaluation listening to is scheduled for January 2026 and we’re absolutely engaged on this course of. We’re assured that our use of reside facial recognition is lawful and follows the coverage.”
The EHRC mentioned it recognised the potential advantages of the expertise in policing however was involved that the Met’s present coverage breached key human rights protections and posed a menace to human rights.
These embody the rights to privateness, freedom of expression, and freedom of meeting, as set out within the European Conference on Human Rights.
Final month, the Met mentioned the tech had allow it to arrest suspected offenders together with alleged paedophiles, rapists and violent robbers, 773 of whom had been charged or a cautioned.
The Met has introduced plans to make use of the expertise to police main occasions reminiscent of Notting Hill Carnival – a proposal which has proved divisive.
Civil rights teams and privateness campaigners have persistently opposed LFRT, saying it invades folks’s privateness, and carries an unacceptable danger of misidentification.
The Met has defended its use, nevertheless, saying it helps cut crime at a time when “money is tight.”
At present, there isn’t any particular home laws regulating police use of reside facial recognition tech.
