The Metropolitan Police are under fire from the UK’s equality regulator over their use of live facial recognition technology (LFRT), with the watchdog warning the current policy risks breaching human rights law.
LFRT works by scanning the faces of people on CCTV and matching them against a police watchlist. Since January 2024, the Met says it has made more than 1,000 arrests using the technology and insists it operates within the law.
But the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has challenged that claim, arguing the force’s policy falls short of being “necessary and proportionate”, the standard required when deploying such intrusive technology. The commission has now been granted permission to intervene in an upcoming judicial review of the Met’s use of LFRT.
John Kirkpatrick, chief executive of the EHRC, acknowledged the potential benefits of facial recognition in fighting serious crime. However, he warned: “There must be clear rules which guarantee that live facial recognition technology is used only where necessary, proportionate and constrained by appropriate safeguards. We believe that the Metropolitan Police’s current policy falls short of this standard.”
A Met Police spokesperson told the BBC: “A judicial review hearing is scheduled for January 2026 and we are fully engaged in this process. We are confident that our use of live facial recognition is lawful and follows the policy.”
Concerns from the EHRC focus on fundamental rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, including privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly. Civil rights and privacy campaigners have consistently warned that LFRT carries risks of misidentification and intrusive surveillance.
Despite the criticism, the Met says LFRT has helped them arrest suspects including alleged paedophiles, rapists, and violent robbers, 773 of whom have been charged or cautioned. The technology is also planned for policing major events such as Notting Hill Carnival, a move that has sparked controversy.
Currently, the UK has no specific law regulating police use of live facial recognition technology, leaving its deployment a matter of policy rather than statute – and one that is now facing intense scrutiny.
