UK Court Upholds Police Facial Recognition Use

London's High Court has dismissed a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition technology, clearing the way for its expanded deployment across police forces in England and Wales. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, rejected claims that the technology breaches human rights or enables arbitrary or discriminatory surveillance.

The case was brought by youth worker Shaun Thompson and Silkie Carlo, director of the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch. Thompson recounted being misidentified by the system outside London Bridge Tube station in February 2024, leading to his detention and questioning despite providing identification. The claimants argued that the technology, which scans faces in public spaces and compares them to police watchlists of suspects, could be used indiscriminately and disproportionately affect certain ethnic groups. Their lawyers likened the biometric data collection to processing DNA profiles and warned that proposed permanent installations in London would make it impossible for residents to move freely without their faces being captured.

In a 47-page judgment, Lord Justice Holgate and Mrs Justice Farbey ruled that the...