Commenting on the publication of the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Annual Report, Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, said:
“The UK is already the most surveilled country of any Western democracy – and the surveillance state appears to be dangerously expanding.
“Big Brother Watch welcomes the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s warnings about the growing risks posed by the multi-billion pound surveillance network in the UK and emerging technologies. However, we would also like to see the Commissioner take urgent action.
“It is an outrage that police forces across the UK are using facial recognition in public spaces – effectively biometric checkpoints – in the absence of any clear legal basis or public consent. In addition, TfL, the NHS and schools are operating thousands of surveillance cameras beyond the oversight of the Commissioner, and the State is using cameras on our roads to track and record the car journeys of millions of ordinary, law-abiding citizens.
“This growing, intrusive tracking of the UK’s population is unacceptable. Big Brother Watch will engage with the Commissioner and continue to fight the surveillance state in 2018 and beyond.”