UK to write fresh facial recognition rules as Met touts 3,000 arrests

Britain is getting a dedicated law for live facial recognition. Policing minister Sarah Jones said the government's response to a public consultation, launched last December, will deliver stronger safeguards and a clearer legal footing for the technology. The Home Office confirmed a new independent watchdog will be created to scrutinise deployments, and in extreme cases could pursue enforcement action to stop a police force using live facial recognition at all.

Jones told BBC London the concerns raised were about proportionality and how far the technology might reach. She said the legislation will set out parameters and principles for what it can be used for, naming wanted criminals and missing people as the targets. An unpaid parking fine, she added, is not something she would expect the cameras to be deployed for. Police currently work under what she called a patchwork of piecemeal legislation, and she argued one rulebook would give forces consistency and the public confidence.

The Metropolitan Police has spent two years ramping up deployments, usually by parking vans in chosen spots and pointing cameras at passers-by. Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes told BBC London the force has made more than 3,000 arrests using the tech over that period, including registered sex offenders picked up for breaching their conditions. At Carnival this year, deployments led to more than 120 arrests, with more than 270,000 faces scanned and a single false alert recorded, according to Met data. The force insists the National Physical Laboratory has assessed its operation of the technology as accurate and fair.

Big Brother Watch is not buying the reassurance. Jasleen Chaggar, the group's senior legal and policy officer, told BBC London the tool indiscriminately scans everyone who walks past a camera, which she called fundamentally un-British given the presumption of innocence. She said thousands of people have objected and the government sat on those responses for more than six months while the technology spread into train stations, Tube stations and supermarkets. Everyone wants serious criminals off the streets, she argued, but law-abiding citizens shouldn't have to prove they are not a suspect just by walking by.

The announcement follows a High Court defeat for campaigners. Youth worker Shaun Thompson and Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo challenged the Met over fears facial recognition could be used arbitrarily or discriminatorily, but the court rejected claims that human rights and privacy law had been broken. Afterwards, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the government would want to carefully consider how it enables rather than over-regulates such technologies. The Home Office also plans a legal code of practice for police and a separate one for private businesses using facial recognition to fight crime. Nick Fisher, chief executive of retail supplier Facewatch, welcomed the move, saying clear rules and independent oversight are vital to public trust.

Next up: where the cameras actually go. Jukes said exact West End locations are still being discussed, but Oxford Street is obviously in the frame, with Christmas shoppers in mind. Officers are also piloting handheld devices to confirm suspects' identities on the spot. Jukes said the Met has been talking to government and believes ministers have listened, describing the emerging framework as one the force can work with while it keeps innovating.