MPs debated using live facial recognition by police forces in the UK for the first time since it was first deployed by the Metropolitan police eight years ago. Over the years, there have been repeated calls from privacy rights campaigners, the ICO and the Parliament to rein in this intrusive technology – but there has never been a debate until now.
15 politicians across parties spoke at the debate, with several MPs citing research by civil liberties group Big Brother Watch about the Orwellian nature of facial recognition technology. A 2023 report by the campaign group found that 89% of all LFR alerts have wrongly flagged innocent people as subjects of interest.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said:
“We’re veering dangerously close to becoming a police state with levels of surveillance that would only be deemed acceptable in the most authoritarian of dictatorships”
Liberal Democrats MP Boddy Dean cited examples of mission creep & asked the Government to “immediately halt the use of live facial recognition technology”
At the end of the debate, the new Policing Minister, Diana Johnson MP, committed to hearing concerns from politicians and civil society organisations about the use of live facial recognition before the end of the year.
The Mirror – UK ‘veering towards a police state’ as our faces are being scanned in street, MPs told
Computer Weekly – MPs hold first ever debate on live facial recognition
Biometric Update – UK policing minister kicks off debate on live facial recognition