Overview

• Facial-recognition vans are positioned at entrances and exits of Notting Hill Carnival to flag people on police watchlists, with crowds expected to top two million.
• Met chief Mark Rowley calls the technology an effective tool, citing well over 1,000 arrests since early 2024 and a plan to double deployments to around ten per week.
• Professor Pete Fussey disputes the Met’s claim of bias-free operation, noting NPL tests found bias at lower sensitivity and seven false positives at 0.6, all involving ethnic minorities.
• The Met says it now runs the system at a 0.64 threshold and points to NPL findings of no statistically significant bias at that level, as civil liberties groups warn of a chilling effect on rights.
• Home Office-backed expansion includes new regions and the first fixed cameras in Croydon next month, with Liberty estimating 4.7 million faces were scanned in 2024 and a High Court challenge over a misidentification due in January.