Police facial recognition searches of passport and immigration databases skyrocket

Police use of mass facial recognition searches against passport and immigration databases has significantly increased, according to responses obtained from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to 31 police forces. The number of searches of the passport database has risen from just 2 in 2020 to 417 in 2023, with an additional 377 searches between January and October 2024. Similarly, searches of the immigration database saw a nearly sevenfold increase from 16 in 2023 to 102 in 2024 and a further 34 searches between January and May 2025.

Digital rights group Big Brother Watch (BBW) and Privacy International have issued legal correspondence to the Home Office and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), calling for a moratorium on such practices. They argue that the government has secretly created a "giant, Orwellian police database" by turning passport photos into "mugshots" without a clear legal basis or parliamentary oversight. The passport database contains over 58 million photos, and the immigration database holds an estimated 92 million, covering most UK residents.

Campaigners warn that this "biometric identity system by the backdoor" risks wrongful misidentification of innocent individuals, as facial recognition technology is less precise than other biometrics like DNA. They note that police are already facing litigation risks over the retention of millions of photos on the Police National Database (PND). The FOI responses reveal that police are now accessing the larger databases to identify individuals not known to them, presumably using probe photos from sources like CCTV or social media. 

Former Shadow Home Secretary Sir David Davis has voiced his concern, stating that the Home Office has acted without Parliament's knowledge or permission.