United Kingdom, South Wales
South Wales Police
Retrospective facial recognition
OperationalOfficial publicationPAI-970670ED
- Body
- South Wales Police
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Area
- South Wales
- Technology
- Retrospective facial recognition
- Supplier
- Not stated in the source
- Status
- Operational
In routine use by the named body, on the evidence of a public source. - Stage
- In use now
- Since
- 2017
- Legal basis
- Common law policing powers, with a separate South Wales Police and Gwent Police RFR Legal Mandate covering the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Data Protection Act 2018 and Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as stated in the forces' policy document)
- Oversight
- Joint South Wales Police and Gwent Police FRT Programme Board reporting to the Gold Board; Police and Crime Commissioners' offices; NPCC Facial Recognition Technology Board; ICO audit (August 2025)
- Evidence
- Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication - Source
- South Wales Police and Gwent Police joint RFR policy v0.4, April 2025; ICO audit summary, August 2025
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-970670ED
Notes
The joint South Wales Police and Gwent Police policy for retrospective facial recognition (version 0.4, approved 28 April 2025, review date 29 June 2026) states that "RFR has been used by SWP since 2017 and in GWP since 2021". It describes a system that searches an image reference database of "lawfully held known Candidate Images", names no supplier and does not mention the Police National Database; the "Neoface M40" algorithm appears only in its account of a National Physical Laboratory equitability study. The Information Commissioner's Office executive summary of its consensual audit of the two forces (version 1.0, August 2025) rated retrospective facial recognition "high" assurance and made 11 recommendations on it (one high, six medium and four low priority); unlike the live facial recognition rating, the retrospective rating is not marked as applying to one force only. The summary names no supplier. The force's live and operator-initiated facial recognition are recorded separately, as is Gwent Police's retrospective use.
Other systems used by South Wales Police
| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Wales PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomWales | NEC (NeoFace) | 2017 | Operational | |
| South Wales PoliceOperator-Initiated Facial Recognition (handheld) | United KingdomSouth Wales | — | — | Operational |
Retrospective facial recognition elsewhere in United Kingdom
See them in the tracker| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwent PoliceRetrospective Facial Recognition | United KingdomForce area | Not specified in source | 2021 | Operational | |
| Leicestershire PoliceRetrospective Facial Recognition | United KingdomForce area | NEC, according to NEC | 2014 | Operational | |
| West Yorkshire PoliceFace Reveal (match suggestions for CCTV images before a facial recognition search) | United KingdomWest Yorkshire | — | — | In development | |
| Metropolitan PoliceRetrospective facial recognition | United KingdomLondon | Northgate Public Services (NEC group), per MOPAC decision PCD 1008 | — | Operational | |
| Northumbria PoliceRetrospective facial recognition | United KingdomNorthumbria | — | — | Operational | |
| National Crime AgencyRetrospective facial recognition solution (request for information) | United Kingdom | — | — | Proposed |