UK launches £20m live facial recognition tender for law enforcement

29/11/2024 | The Register

A police procurement body established by the Home Office has announced a tender for live facial recognition (LFR) software with a potential value of up to £20 million, raising renewed concerns about mass biometric surveillance. The procurement represents a substantial advancement in the UK's plans to integrate the LFR technology into law enforcement and security agencies. The tender, issued through BlueLight Commercial, a non-profit consortium representing emergency services, aims to create a national multi-supplier framework for live facial recognition (LFR) software. The LFR software will compare live camera feeds against predetermined watchlists to identify persons of interest by generating alerts for potential matches. The maximum budget is allocated for a four-year term and encompasses policing bodies from the 43 forces of England and Wales, as well as various other law enforcement and emergency services, including the College of Policing, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, British Transport Police, and the Ministry of Justice.

In a blog article about the tender, Privacy International said: "announcement marks another step the UK government is taking in pursuing plans to introduce and sustain the use of this highly invasive technology into policing across the UK. Yet, they continue to do so while there is no legal framework in place pertaining to the use of FRT."

Elsewhere, in a statement responding to the announcement, Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch, said: "The secretive use of AI and algorithms to impact people's lives puts everyone's data rights at risk. Government departments must be open and honest about how they uses this tech."

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Metrolitan Police, facial recognition

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