James Francis Whitehead reports:
Live facial recognition technology is spreading from city streets to supermarket aisles, with police and major retailers ramping up the use of the surveillance tool.
Between London and Greater Manchester alone — home to roughly 11 million people, or about one-fifth of England’s population — millions are now potentially being scanned each year.
The Metropolitan Police have announced it is scaling up its use of live facial recognition technology in the coming months, increasing deployments with additional support from officers.
The Met’s annual report found that between September 2024 and September 2025, the technology led to 962 arrests, bringing the total since the rollout began to more than 1,400. More than 1,000 people have been charged or cautioned, the force said, including those wanted by courts and offenders breaching conditions.
Police claim the technology has not led to any wrongful arrests, but they also concede the system has produced false alerts for 10 people, eight of whom were Black.
Read more at Courthouse News.