Overview

• The Home Office will fund the deployment of 10 live facial recognition vans across seven police forces in the coming weeks.
• The technology is slated to identify high-harm offenders, focusing on sex offenders and suspects wanted for the most serious crimes.
• A government consultation this autumn will seek public input to shape a statutory framework for facial recognition use.
• Each van will operate under College of Policing guidance, using algorithms independently tested by the National Physical Laboratory and staffed by trained officers.
• Civil liberties groups and some politicians warn of privacy and oversight gaps and are supporting judicial reviews over the lack of dedicated legislation.