Biometrics Commissioner on the police use of live facial recognition

Paul Wiles, the Biometrics Commissioner, responds to the Metropolitan Police Service.

I am aware that the Metropolitan Police Service have produced an equality impact assessment in relation to their deployment of live facial recognition (LFR). In that document they claim that I ‘supported the concept of LFR’. In fact I have continually said that we need proper governance of new biometric technologies such as LFR through legislation. In my view it is for Parliament to decide whether LFR ought to be used by the police and if so for what purposes.