Partner Maria Theodoulou comments on police use of live facial recognition, in ICLG News

Partner Maria Theodoulou comments on the legal framework governing police use of live facial recognition (LFR), as its deployment continues to expand across England and Wales.

Maria’s comments were published in ICLG News, 15 September 2026.

“Police use of live facial recognition is currently governed by a patchwork of data protection, human rights and equality law, alongside police guidance and policies. But this technology amounts to real-time biometric surveillance of the public, and any deployment must meet strict tests of necessity and proportionality. Without a clear statutory framework and enforceable oversight, there remain significant gaps around how, when and against whom the technology can be used.

“Bridges remains an important authority, particularly in requiring the use of facial recognition to be subject to effective legal control. But the technology and the scale of its deployment have evolved significantly since that case, so its conclusions cannot simply be treated as a blanket approval of how facial recognition is being used today.

“There is an important difference between limited, targeted use and permanent infrastructure capable of subjecting large numbers of people to real-time biometric surveillance. As deployment becomes more widespread, questions of necessity, proportionality and effective legal control become more pressing. As does the risk of surveillance expanding beyond its original purpose.

“The push for expanded facial recognition sits uneasily with the basic legal safeguards that are meant to govern state surveillance. Any new framework must not simply facilitate wider deployment: it must provide robust, enforceable regulation, meaningful oversight and consequences for non-compliance. Public trust depends on ensuring that no authority operates beyond effective legal control.”