UK police widen live facial recognition deployments despite opposition

Live facial recognition deployments continue to expand across the UK, with police reporting arrests, missing-person recoveries and compliance monitoring from recent operations in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed it used LFR at Manchester’s Caribbean Carnival earlier this month. The two-day event from August 8 saw tens of thousands in attendance and the police say they worked closely with parents and stakeholders to support the carnival.

Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson said “a fraction” of people were arrested during the carnival. “LFR has been a great tool in identifying everything from wanted criminals to missing people, doing so accurately and without any misidentifications,” he said (via The Voice).

LFR threw up 34 alerts during the festivities, which resulted in 11 arrests for offences including fraud, theft, failure to appear at court and breach of a sexual harm prevention order. The remaining alerts were for Registered Sex Offenders, with police checking their conditions, and several people allegedly known to carry knives. LFR also identified a missing child.

Greater Manchester Police say that only one individual — a Caucasian woman at the Manchester Marathon —  has been misidentified in more than one million scans. The force said officers were present to explain LFR to members of the public.

LFR compares live images against a watchlist of suspects, with alerts reviewed by trained officers before action is taken. Data from non‑matches is deleted within seconds.

West Yorkshire Police have reported arrests and the recovery of a weapon during the latest deployment of LFR cameras in Bradford city center.

The operation ran from August 19 to 21 and identified four people wanted for criminal offences. All were arrested, including one man found carrying a knuckle duster, who was further detained on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon. The technology also helped locate a missing person.

Since February 2026, LFR vans have made 17 visits to Bradford, leading to 29 arrests. The system has flagged 21 individuals subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, alerting officers who checked compliance.

Inspector Justin Adams of the Bradford City Neighbourhood Policing Team said the technology is proving valuable both in locating wanted individuals and safeguarding vulnerable people. He noted that local businesses have broadly welcomed its use, which is supported by funding from the Knife Crime Concentration Fund.

ICO finds police largely compliant

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has said that police are using facial recognition in ways that meet their regulatory compliance obligations, for the most part. Their compliance rate is higher with LFR than with retrospective or forensic applications, however, according to the ICO’s findings from audits of five forces in England and Wales.

The ICO recently audited both the Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police in their use of LFR. The audits of West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police were conducted between June 2025 and March 2026. They consisted of policy and procedure reviews, interviews, records inspections, technology demonstrations and a virtual review of evidence documentation.

Both forces were found to have “reasonable” assurance of compliance for live facial recognition technology. West Yorkshire Police was also found “reasonable” in its assurance of compliance for retrospective facial recognition, but Greater Manchester Police’s was only “limited” due to a lack of policy for using the Police National Database (PND), or defined roles for using the technology.

Deputy Commissioner for Regulatory Policy Emily Keaney made the case for strong data protection governance as a pillar of public trust in facial recognition. The ICO makes 107 recommendations overall related to compliance and best practices.

Civil liberties groups call for halt

Civil liberties groups have called on Nottinghamshire Police to halt plans to roll out LFR. In a joint letter organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Big Brother Watch, Liberty and Open Rights Group warned that LFR represents “biometric mass surveillance” and is far more intrusive than “just another tool to fight crime.”

They argue that scanning everyone in public spaces treats all citizens as suspects, undermining freedoms such as protest, union activity and access to healthcare. They criticized claims that “people have nothing to worry about,” saying the technology risks chilling everyday activities.

Campaigners allege disproportionate targeting, noting reports that LFR could be used against children as young as 11 under Operation View. They warned this could worsen behavioral problems and damage trust between young people and police.

The groups cite polling by Liberty that shows limited public support, with 48 percent of respondents opposing facial recognition on high streets, and most reject its use in schools. Younger people in London were found to be particularly opposed.

On these grounds, the groups urged Nottinghamshire Police to immediately abandon further use of live facial recognition surveillance.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  law enforcement  |  live facial recognition  |  real-time biometrics