MPs Back Call to ‘Immediately Stop’ Live Facial Recognition Surveillance

A group of MPs and peers, supported by 31 charities and pressure groups, have called for a moratorium on live facial recognition surveillance.

An undated image showing two activists holding up placards and wearing masks of policing minister Chris Philp (L) and Home Secretary Suella Braverman (R) outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Big Brother Watch

A group of 65 MPs and peers, backed by 31 charities and civil rights groups, have called for the use of live facial recognition surveillance to be “immediately stopped.”

The statement comes after policing minister Chris Philp announced plans this week to make UK passport photographs searchable by police officers using facial recognition technology.

The Metropolitan Police deployed live facial recognition at large-scale public events, including King Charles’s coronation in May, where a total of 64 people were arrested, none of whom were convicted of any offence.

It is also being used by private companies at events and conferences.

Among the 65 signatories of the statement were Liberal Democrat Party leader Ed Davey, former Brexit Secretary David Davis, Green MP Caroline Lucas, and former shadow attorney general Baroness Shami Chakrabarti.

The joint statement, promoted by Big Brother Watch, is also backed by 31 groups including Liberty, Amnesty International, and the Race Equality Foundation.

‘Potential for Discriminatory Impact’

The statement says, “We hold differing views about live facial recognition surveillance, ranging from serious concerns about its incompatibility with human rights, to the potential for discriminatory impact, the lack of safeguards, the lack of an evidence base, an unproven case of necessity or proportionality, the lack of a sufficient legal basis, the lack of parliamentary consideration, and the lack of a democratic mandate.”

“However, all of these views lead us to the same following conclusion. We call on UK police and private companies to immediately stop using live facial recognition for public surveillance,” it concludes.

The director of Big Brother Watch, Silkie Carlo, said, “The UK’s reckless approach to face surveillance makes us a total outlier in the democratic world, especially against the backdrop of the EU’s proposed ban.”

The UK is shortly due to host an artificial intelligence summit and Big Brother Watch said Britain should use the opportunity to “show leadership in adopting new technologies in a rights-respecting way.”

Ms. Carlo said, “There must be an urgent stop to live facial recognition, parliamentary scrutiny and a much wider democratic debate before we introduce such a privacy-altering technology to British life.”

The statement came a day after the Metropolitan Police announced that 21 people who were arrested on the day of the king’s coronation will face no further action.

‘No Realistic Prospect of Conviction’ for Coronation Protesters

The Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was “no realistic prospect of conviction.”

The Met said the individuals were arrested in order to prevent a breach of the peace and on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in The Mall and in Whitehall on May 6.

An anti-monarchy protester is arrested in central London during the coronation on May 6, 2023. Labour4Republic/PA

The Met’s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers had “intelligence” in the hours before the coronation to suggest activists planned to disrupt the procession.

Mr. Twist said, “We had real concerns that such efforts would not only disrupt a once-in-a-lifetime event of enormous national significance, but that they could also compromise the security and safety of participants and the wider public.”

He did not comment on whether facial recognition technology was used to identify those who were arrested.

Last month it emerged Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, is suing the Metropolitan Police over his arrest on the day of the coronation.

He claimed the police’s actions were a breach of his freedom of speech and his right to peacefully protest against the monarchy.

The Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Fraser Sampson told The Epoch Times in August that while he believed the expansion of new technologies such as facial recognition was “inevitable,” it must be “proportionate and appropriate and accountable.”

On its website, the Metropolitan Police said: “LFR [live facial recognition] is not a ubiquitous tool that uses lots of CCTV cameras from across London to track every person’s movements. It is a carefully deployed overt policing tactic to help locate a limited number of people the police need to find in order to keep London safe.”

A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC, “Facial recognition, including live facial recognition, has a sound legal basis that has been confirmed by the courts and has already enabled a large number of serious criminals to be caught.”