UK Expands Police Facial Recognition Rollout
August 13th, 2025Via: The Register:
A fresh expansion of UK crimefighters’ access to live facial recognition (LFR) technology is being described by officials as “an excellent opportunity for policing.” Privacy campaigners disagree.
The Home Office said today that more police forces across England will gain LFR capabilities thanks to ten new “cutting edge” vans being wheeled out, adding to those already in use by London’s Metropolitan Police and forces in South Wales.
Seven forces will gain access to LFR vans as part of the latest expansion. These are: Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey and Sussex (jointly), and Thames Valley and Hampshire (jointly).
The UK government insists LFR vans, which are strongly opposed by privacy campaigners, are effective policing tools and are used only in targeted cases informed by firm intelligence.
