Liberty: growing increasingly concerned about the rollout and excessive usage of facial recognition technology by police forces in the UK.
Posted: 7th April 2025
We are growing increasingly concerned about the rollout and excessive usage of facial recognition technology by police forces in the UK. Last week, it was revealed that the UK’s first permanent facial recognition cameras are set to be installed in London. This week, a Telegraph investigation exposed that police are conducting facial recognition searches on the public every two minutes.
It is urgent the Government gets police use of dangerous facial recognition technology under control. Police forces up and down the country are now using this tech that enables them to identify and track each and every one of us.
And as the Telegraph revealed, police are not just matching faces to their own list of suspects, but they are routinely running scans against driving license and passport databases that hold the photos of millions of people not wanted for any offence.
Last year, police officers ran more than a quarter of a million facial recognition searches in the UK. This number is only likely to increase, as its use becomes more and more normalised. We must take a stand.
We urgently need safeguards to protect us from the rollout of facial recognition as we go about our daily lives. We’re demanding the Government makes sure:
facial recognition is not used without independent sign-off from a judge
no one is added to a police watchlist unless they are reasonable suspected of a serious crime
facial recognition is never used to identify journalists and their sources, whistleblowers, protesters, and anyone in or around polling stations.
If you’re just as concerned as we are, sign your name and join us in our campaign.
Best wishes,
Charlie Whelton
Policy & Campaigns Officer