How should expansion of facial recognition be used to fight crime, ask police?

MINISTERS are seeking to ramp up police use of facial recognition to fight crime and are asking people how it should be used, to form new laws.

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A police officer puts up a sign as a Live Facial Recognition van is deployed DANNY LAWSON

A 10-week consultation is being launched that will ask for views on how the technology should be regulated and how to protect people's privacy.

The Government is also proposing to create a regulator to oversee police use of facial recognition, biometrics and other tools and is collecting opinions on what powers it should have.

Policing minister Sarah Jones described facial recognition as the “biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching” saying that it has already helped catch thousands of criminals.

“We will expand its use so that forces can put more criminals behind bars and tackle crime in their communities,” she said.

According to the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police made 1,300 arrests using facial recognition over the last two years, and found more than 100 registered sex offenders breaching their licence conditions.

But the technology has faced criticism, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) describing the Met Police’s policy on use of live facial recognition technology as “unlawful”, earlier this year.