The Home Office has announced plans to introduce new safeguards for police use of facial recognition, including an independent watchdog to oversee current and future technologies. Under the proposals, the regulator could advise on standards, scrutinise practices and, in extreme cases where forces fail to comply, pursue enforcement action that could lead to a court injunction preventing them from using the technology.

The department said any technologies used by law enforcement must be rigorously and independently tested for bias or discrimination on grounds of age, gender or race. A specific law would make clear that police use of facial recognition must be intelligence-led and proportionate, so it is used only when officers believe wanted people could be present in an area. The government will also develop a legal code of practice for police, and a separate code for the private sector, including shops using the technology to tackle crime.

The measures follow a public consultation that the Home Office said showed strong support for the technology's effectiveness alongside a need for stronger safeguards. It cited pilot static live facial recognition cameras in Croydon between October 2025 and March 2026, which led to 173 arrests, and the use of the technology at this year's Notting Hill Carnival, where police stopped 86 registered sex offenders. The Home Office also said it had independently tested a new retrospective facial recognition algorithm that will be available to forces from next year.