Government launches consultation on use of facial recognition and biometrics
Image by Ben Gingell / copyright Shutterstock
Police will be better equipped to track down dangerous criminals as the government launches a consultation on how forces should use facial recognition and biometrics, in what could be ‘the biggest breakthrough since DNA matching’.
Facial recognition is used to locate wanted suspects in public places, find vulnerable missing people and identify offenders more quickly through footage obtained from CCTV and doorbell cameras.
In the last two years, the Metropolitan Police made 1,300 arrests using facial recognition including rapists, domestic abusers and violent criminals and found more than 100 registered sex offenders breaching their license conditions.
The consultation will pave the way for new laws so all police forces can use this new technology with greater confidence and more often.
Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said: "Facial recognition is the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching.
"It has already helped take thousands of dangerous criminals off our streets and has huge potential to strengthen how the police keep us safe.
"We will expand its use so that forces can put more criminals behind bars and tackle crime in their communities."
Police currently use three different types of facial recognition technology:
Retrospective facial recognition: used as part of a criminal investigation to search images from crime scenes (e.g. CCTV, mobile phone or video doorbell footage) against images of people taken on arrest.
Live facial recognition: using live video footage of people passing cameras and comparing their images to a specific list of people wanted by the police.
Operator-initiated facial recognition: a mobile app that allows officers to check someone’s identity without having to arrest them and take them into custody.
Expanding the use of facial recognition technology across forces will help them to catch more perpetrators through this advanced technology.
The 10 week consultation will encourage an open discussion among the public, Parliament and police, looking at the benefits of facial recognition and asking what safeguards are needed to ensure they are confident in its use and in similar technologies which are likely to follow. It will explore when and how the technologies should be used, how to protect people’s privacy and whether using these technologies is proportionate to the level of harm being addressed.
It also proposes creating a single body to oversee and regulate police use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies and seeks views on what responsibilities it should have.
Research published today by the Home Office shows that retrospective facial recognition is seen as most acceptable type of facial recognition by the public, with 97% of people saying that it is at least sometimes acceptable for police to use it. Eighty eight per cent of people think it is at least sometimes acceptable for the police to use live facial recognition to locate suspects.
The Home Office invested £12.6 million in facial recognition last year, with £2.8 million spent on national live facial recognition capabilities, including mobile vans and fixed-location pilots. This year, £6.6 million is supporting the adoption, evaluation and responsible rollout of facial recognition technology, including £3.9 million for the development of a new, national facial matching service.
Lindsey Chiswick, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for facial recognition, said: "Live facial recognition helps police locate wanted offenders, including those missing for years, and monitor individuals subject to court imposed conditions, such as registered sex offenders. This technology makes officers more effective and delivers more arrests than would otherwise be possible. Live facial recognition is making a real difference in keeping communities safe.
"Live facial recognition is already subject to strong safeguards and rigorous oversight, and policing remains committed to using it proportionately and responsibly.
"Public trust is vital, and we want to build on that by listening to people’s views. This consultation is an opportunity for the public to help shape how live facial recognition continues to be deployed, what protections matter most, and how policing can continue to use it in a way that reinforces confidence."
Neil Basu QPM, former head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "Live facial recognition is a massive step forward for law enforcement – a digital 21st century step change in the tradition of fingerprint and DNA technology. Most crimes are committed by a few, often habitual criminals but they can’t avoid shops, malls, stadiums and transport hubs, all places where live facial recognition can be deployed to spot them and allow them to be brought to justice. The live facial recognition system was, but no longer is, discriminatory but it will still require proper legal safeguards and oversight by the surveillance commissioner.
"Every use has a police officer safety net, there to check that the identification is correct and prevent miscarriages of justice. This consultation is a necessary and welcome step by the government which I hope will expedite its use by policing, lead them to catch more criminals, and keep us much safer."
Sue Daley OBE, Director of Tech and Innovation at techUK, said: "Facial recognition technology can deliver real benefits for law enforcement and help create safer communities. This powerful technology offers opportunities but raises concerns that must be properly understood and addressed.
"We welcome the Home Office consultation; regulation clarity, certainty and consistency on how this technology will be used will be paramount to establish trust and long-term public support. We stand ready to support the consultation process to ensure that we get this right."
Susannah Drury, Director of Policy and Development at Missing People, said: "Facial recognition technology could help to ensure more missing people are found, protecting people from serious harm. However, we need to better understand the ethical implications and what safeguards must be put in place for this technology to be used safely.
"We welcome this consultation as an opportunity to explore these issues, and to make sure that people with lived experience of going missing or having a loved one missing get their say."
