Concerns raised over Facewatch's real-time police alert system

Civil liberties groups have raised concerns over plans by the retail-focused facial recognition provider Facewatch to launch a real-time police alert system in the UK this autumn. The system, currently used by over 100 businesses, including Sainsbury's and B&M, to track repeat offenders, will notify police within four seconds of a live match.

Facewatch reported sending almost 300,000 alerts to retailers in the first half of 2026, enabling staff to intervene before incidents escalated. 

Although retail theft and violence are rising, Sarah Lasoye, pre-crime programme manager at Open Rights Group, warns that the technology risks "entrenching a climate of surveillance across public life." 

Charlie Whelton, policy and campaigns officer at Liberty, also criticised the move, claiming the technology is an untested, unregulated system. Whelton warns that calling the police on individuals before they commit a crime upends traditional justice and notes that the technology is prone to errors that are difficult for wrongly flagged citizens to challenge.

Meanwhile, Nuala Polo, the UK public policy lead at the Ada Lovelace Institute, argues that scanning millions of faces daily without consent is disproportionate, given that less intrusive alternatives exist. He also warns that exempting the private sector from planned regulations creates a backdoor, allowing police to partner with private companies that bypass public accountability standards.

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