Surveillance increases in London: City boosts utilization of facial recognition technology by twofold
The Metropolitan Police Service (Met) in London has announced a significant expansion of its use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, with deployments set to increase from four times a week across two days to up to 10 times a week across five days. This move aims to help offset staff shortages and has already contributed to around 1,000 arrests, with 773 leading to charges or cautions as of mid-2025.
However, this growth in facial recognition use has raised serious concerns about privacy, civil rights, and public trust. Critics, including civil liberties groups like Liberty and Big Brother Watch, highlight the lack of adequate legislative safeguards and regulatory oversight surrounding LFR’s deployment. They warn that such expansions represent a significant increase in surveillance power without sufficient accountability and express worry about potential misuse and wrongful identification.
The government has announced efforts to develop a new legal framework and guidelines to govern LFR use, involving College of Policing rules, training standards, and independent testing of algorithms to minimize bias across gender, ethnicity, and age. However, the details of watchlist criteria and data handling remain unclear, contributing further to public skepticism.
The Met argues that the technology helps to catch serious criminals and find missing persons. However, criticism centers on accountability and intrusive surveillance. Clare Collier, director of the National Council for Civil Liberties, stated that the technology gives the state "unprecedented power to track and monitor each of us," destroying privacy and freedom of expression.
In the wake of these concerns, an average person in the UK is recorded by 300 cameras in a day, with cameras commonly found in supermarkets, car parks, public transport, and libraries. Facial recognition cameras have also been known to mistakenly identify individuals, further eroding trust in the police.
In May 2023, the London Met Police announced they would be doubling their use of live facial recognition technology, to be used up to ten times per week on five days. This expansion exemplifies the ongoing tension between emerging surveillance technologies’ benefits for public safety and the potentially chilling effects on privacy, rights, and trust in police institutions.
The use of facial recognition technology has been a topic of debate in the UK for at least five years. In 2020, the London Met Police announced they would be using facial recognition cameras in the future. This year, 1,700 police officer positions are set to be cut in London, which may further increase the reliance on technology for law enforcement.
In response to these developments, British citizen Shaun Thompson, along with Big Brother Watch, filed a lawsuit against the Met Police with the British Supreme Court. The lawsuit challenges the use of facial recognition technology, arguing that it infringes on civil liberties and privacy rights.
As the use of facial recognition technology continues to evolve, so too does the need for clear and effective regulations. The balance between policing benefits and civil liberties is a complex issue that requires careful consideration and transparency to ensure public trust and maintain the integrity of democratic oversight.
[1] The Guardian, "Metropolitan Police to double use of facial recognition technology," May 2023. [2] The Guardian, "Facial recognition: why are civil liberties groups so worried about the technology?," February 2021. [3] The Guardian, "Met Police facial recognition: what is it and why is it controversial?," July 2020.
- Other critics, such as Shaun Thompson and Big Brother Watch, have filed a lawsuit in the British Supreme Court against the Met Police, arguing that the increasing use of facial recognition technology, like the planned doubling to ten times per week, infringes on civil liberties and privacy rights.
- Despite the Met's claims that this technology helps catch serious criminals and find missing persons, general-news sources reveal ongoing concerns about privacy, civil rights, and public trust, with technology advocates expressing worries about potential misuse, wrongful identification, and a lack of regulatory oversight in crime-and-justice areas.
