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26 results for facial recognition
Technologies
- Technology Live Facial Recognition Real-time scanning of every passing face against a police watchlist, operating at scale in the UK on force policy rather than statute, upheld by the High Court in April 2026 and now expanding to 50 vans.
- Technology Facewatch facial recognition Live facial recognition operated by shops rather than police, matching customers against retailer-compiled watchlists, and the clearest documented case of the human review safeguard failing alongside the algorithm.
- Technology Operator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) Operator-initiated facial recognition: an officer photographs a person in front of them on a handheld device and checks the image against a police database, the fastest-spreading UK facial recognition mode and the least debated.
- Technology Retrospective Facial Recognition (PND search) Retrospective searching of the Police National Database's custody image collection, running over 25,000 searches a month against more than 19 million images, with a regulator-confirmed bias finding and a replacement algorithm planned.
- Technology Clearview AI facial recognition Facial recognition matching against a database of tens of billions of images scraped from the public internet without consent, sold to police and intelligence agencies, and found unlawful by regulators across Europe.
- Technology Moscow facial recognition CCTV network Moscow's city-wide facial recognition camera network, among the largest live identification systems anywhere, and documented as used to identify people attending political protests.
- Technology AI Facial Recognition Body-Worn Cameras Facial recognition running on an officer's body-worn camera, turning a recording device into a live identification system — proposed and trialled rather than widely deployed, and resisted by at least one major supplier.
- Technology Private Live Facial Recognition Networks Facial recognition operated by businesses and community organisations rather than police, creating watchlists and exclusions outside any statutory framework, and increasingly feeding information to forces.
Deployments
- Deployment British Transport Police — Live Facial Recognition NEC (NeoFace M40)
- Deployment Metropolitan Police (and other forces) — Operator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) Home Office-supported deployment
- Deployment Metropolitan Police — Live Facial Recognition NEC (NeoFace)
- Deployment South Wales Police — Live Facial Recognition NEC (NeoFace)
- Deployment Multiple retailers (private) — Facewatch facial recognition Facewatch
- Deployment Home Office / multiple forces — Retrospective Facial Recognition (PND search) Cognitec (FaceVACS-DBScan ID), among others
- Deployment ~3,100 US police departments (company estimate) — Clearview AI facial recognition Clearview AI
- Deployment Royal Canadian Mounted Police (National Child Exploitation Crime Centre) — Clearview AI facial recognition Clearview AI
Topics
- Topic Facial Recognition in Policing Facial recognition is the most contested policing technology in use today. Live deployments scan faces in a crowd against a watchlist in real time, while retrospective systems matc
- Topic Protest and Public Order Policing Facial recognition, drones and crowd analytics are increasingly used at large public gatherings and demonstrations, both for public order and safety planning and for identifying in
Coverage
- Story CJP Protest: AI, facial recognition, body cameras and smart surveillance help Delhi Police other tech helping govt stop Jantar Mantar 2.0 Delhi Police is using facial recognition technology, body cameras and CCTV cameras ahead of an upcoming CJP protest. The deployment comes as security measures intensify across Delh
- Story Live facial recognition helps Essex Police make two arrests Essex Police have used live facial recognition to arrest two people in Basildon. The arrests were linked to drug offences and an outstanding warrant during Operation Guardian patro
- Story “Like having 10 extra officers” – police use live facial recognition in Warrington
- Story Police to use deploy live facial recognition in town centre for first time Cheshire Police will use live facial recognition technology in Warrington town centre on Friday. The deployment will operate using watchlists alongside privacy safeguards. Officers
- Story Lawsuit claims facial recognition program led to wrongful arrest A man has launched legal action against police and Amazon Web Services following his arrest through a computer facial recognition programme. The software led officers to the man, w
- Story Lawsuit claims Amazon facial recognition led police to wrong man
- Story Three arrests by police using facial recognition
- Story Conservative conference: crime 'hotspots' and sentencing on justice agenda The party says using live facial recognition technology will help restore public confidence in law and order. Its proposals also include adding 10,000 extra police officers and abo