Police Scotland

The joint assurance review by the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (SBC/2025/02, laid before the Scottish Parliament in March 2025) found that Police Scotland ran 3,813 facial searches on the Home Office's Police National Database (PND) in 2023-24, with 57 positive matches or leads (1.49 per cent), and states that "PND search functionality has been used in Scotland since 2014". Scottish images on the PND come from the Criminal History System; the review found many are of low resolution, and that "Approximately 98% of searches conducted by Police Scotland fail to produce any potential matches" across the systems it examined. It found that "No specific Police Scotland policy exists for retrospective image search technology", that the force conducts no audits of its use of retrospective facial search and does not collect or analyse data on its effectiveness, and made four recommendations, including a dedicated policy and better image quality before the force joins the Home Office's Strategic Facial Matching Project. The review names Cognitec's FaceVACS as the PND technology. It also covers facial matching on the Child Abuse Image Database, which it says was enabled in July 2023 and uses NEC technology, with 193 such searches in 2023-24. The Ferret reported on 5 November 2023 that the force made 3,848 PND facial searches in 2022, and quoted a spokesperson calling the technology an "extremely useful tool in helping officers to identify those who commit crimes". Police Scotland's plans for live facial recognition are recorded separately.