UK Home Office working on rules for police use of LFR

The UK Home Office is in the process of crafting a governance framework for the use of live facial recognition by police, as the government considers a legislative foundation

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed the intention to introduce a governance framework in response to questions from the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, UKAuthority reports.

Fraud Minister David Hanson told the House of Lords during a hearing at the beginning of July that the government was considering legislation to establish a foundation for facial recognition use by law enforcement.

Legislation for police use of retrospective facial recognition is on the way in Ireland, and The Irish Times reports it will also allow for the use of voice biometrics and gait recognition for identifying suspects.

While England and Wales wait for further word on new legislation, Cooper says Policing Minister Diana Johnson has engaged with police forces and other stakeholders to consult on a governance framework.

“The policing minister has been drawing up what that framework will look like, and we hope to be able to set out that,” Cooper said.

“We will update you as soon as we possibly can and write to you with the details. But we do think you need a proper governance framework to give forces the confidence to use with the right standards in place.”

Cooper also suggested that in the absence of statutory footing, some police forces have developed effective policies for facial recognition use.

The police have clearly been looking further ahead than lawmakers on biometrics.

Better late than never

London’s Metropolitan Police Service says it recently surpassed 1,000 arrests made with live facial recognition, resulting in 773 people being charged or cautioned. Of 1,035 arrests since the start of 2024, Met police say 93 were registered sex offenders.

South Wales police are using a mobile app for near real-time identification with operator-initiated facial recognition (OIFR), and have trained more than 500 officers in the app’s use.

The app is used by police in South Wales and Gwent county. South Wales police have made 50 searches with it, resulting in 10 arrests, while Gwent police used it 6 times, twice “for concerns for safety” and on one occasion resulting in an arrest.

Research recently released by the UK’s ICO shows a relatively low 61 percent of the public is comfortable with OIFR.

Live facial recognition could also be used to catch people evading public transportation fares in London, The Standard reports. TfL officials are considering deploying the technology in the future, or potentially using retrospective (sometimes called “forensic”) facial recognition to identify fare dodgers.

TfL Director of Security, Policing and Enforcement Siwan Hayward said during a meeting of London Assembly’s transport committee that the organization is working with Met police to understand potential issues around the use of facial recognition, including bias.

Fare evasion fell from 3.8 percent in 2023-2024 to 3.5 percent in the last year, according to TfL.

 

Article Topics

biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  law enforcement  |  legislation  |  London Metropolitan Police  |  police  |  UK