Police Scotland to move forward with live facial recognition
01/09/2025 | Holyrood
Police Scotland is planning to move forward with plans to introduce live facial recognition (LFR) technology. During a meeting on 21 August, Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors said Police Scotland had taken a "big step forward" in discussions and that stakeholder engagement had been "really positive."
However, she added that there was "still a lot to do," with the force needing to look into business cases, policy, and budgets. Deputy Chief Constable Bex Smith said the force is also working to understand the necessary assurances around bias mitigation, which she described as "really important," and the need for primary legislation and independent oversight.
In a statement, responding to the news, Madeleine Stone, Senior Advocacy Officer at Big Brother Watch, said: "The decision from Police Scotland to explore the introduction of live facial recognition surveillance is deeply disappointing and flies in the face of recommendations from rights and equalities groups across Scotland and the UK. Live facial recognition technology has no place in a democratic society and poses a grave risk to the rights and freedoms of the Scottish public."
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