United Kingdom, North Wales
North Wales Police
Live Facial Recognition
OperationalOfficial publicationPAI-E9682D62
- Body
- North Wales Police
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Area
- North Wales
- Technology
- Live 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
- May 2024
- Legal basis
- Not stated in the source
- Oversight
- Not stated in the source
- Evidence
- Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication - Source
- Home Office, Police use of facial recognition: factsheet (forces listed as of November 2025)
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-E9682D62
Notes
Listed by the Home Office among 13 forces that had used or were using live facial recognition as of November 2025. The factsheet gives no detail of this force's deployments.
Update, November 2026. ID Tech reports that North Wales Police began using live facial recognition at Holyhead port on 21 and 22 May 2024 as a pilot, with a policy document completed by April 2024, and that on 3 September 2024 the force announced continued use at specific events across the region with South Wales Police as a partner. The start date is therefore May 2024, earlier than the Home Office factsheet date this record used. Supplier not named in the report. The force's own release was not read.
Live Facial Recognition elsewhere in United Kingdom
See them in the tracker| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Transport PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomLondon rail and Underground network | NEC (NeoFace M40) | 2026 | Trial | |
| Metropolitan PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomLondon | NEC (NeoFace) | 2020 | Operational | |
| South Wales PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomWales | NEC (NeoFace) | 2017 | Operational | |
| Essex PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomForce area | Corsight AI (Apollo 4), with Digital Barriers | 2024 | Operational | |
| West Yorkshire PoliceLive and Retrospective Facial Recognition | United KingdomForce area | Not specified in source | 2025 | Operational | |
| Greater Manchester PoliceLive and Retrospective Facial Recognition | United KingdomForce area | Not specified in source | 2025 | Operational | |
| Police ScotlandLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomScotland | Not applicable -- not yet deployed | 2024 | Proposed | |
| Merseyside PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomMerseyside, including Southport and Birkenhead town centres | — | 2025 | Operational | |
| Thames Valley PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomThames Valley, first deployed in Oxford city centre | — | 2025 | Operational | |
| Northamptonshire PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomNorthamptonshire | — | 2023 | Trial | |
| Bedfordshire PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomBedfordshire | NEC (NeoFace Watch), according to NEC | 2025 | Operational | |
| Surrey PoliceLive Facial Recognition | United KingdomSurrey | NEC Software | 2025 | Operational |