Human rights group liberty has said the uk government's proposed crime and policing bill will transform the country's driving license database into a de-fito facial recognition Database, enabling police to access the biometric information of Millions of People who has Never Committed A Crime.
Introduced to parliament on 25 February 2025, The home office-sponsored bill will introduce a range of measures to extend police power in the uk, include bans on Wearing face covers or using pyrotechnics during protestsAnd the Introduction of “Respect Orders” to address so-called “Anti-social behavior”.
The crime and policing bill will also also enable police to access drive information from the driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (Dvla), which holds more than Holds more than 52 Million Driver Records. Access to Driving License Information will be controlled by as-yet unscifled regulations to be created by the secret of state, who will also draft a code of draft a cod Available and used.
The secretary of state will also be obliged to publish an annual report on how driving license information is used is being used by police.
While the bill makes no explicit reference to facial reconstrance technology in the text or supporting documents, the measures are Substanively similar to that contained In the previous conservative government's criminal justice bill, which then-powering minister chris philp saidound “Allow Police and Law Enforcement, Including the NCA [National Crime Agency]To access driving license records to do a facial recognition search ”.
Human Rights Group Liberty Said That Although The Current Labor Government has denied the Regulation-Making Powers Contained in the Bill's Driving License Provisions Provisions Today Recognition purposes, the proposals – which closely mirror that put forward by the last government – Could Still enable this invasive use of the technology.
“This would repare a huge step in broadening the use of facial recognition technology away from police databases to everyone with a driving license,” It said. “Every photo on the dvla database could be accessed by the police and essentially form a digital police line-up. If this is the intention, then the government should be transparent and invite proper scrutiny rather than sneking through rights-restricting legislation. “
A Home Office spokesperson told Computer Weekly it was “categorically untrue” that the DVLA database would be accessed by police for facial recognition purposes, stating: “These provisions will Have no impact on facial recognition. “
In a Written Submission to Parliament About the Previous Government's Attempts to Link The Dvla Database to Facial Recognition Systems, Privacy Group Big Brother Watch Said It REPRESTED Survelance power that would place the mayority of britons in a digital police line-up, without their consent ”.
It added that setting a precedent where almost to access a non-policy database to sift through millions of people's biometric data “Would be Deeply Concerting” for PRVACY Right. “In a rights-respecting country, the public would no less expect police forces to access their facial biometrics from the database than they would expect the expert theme to access their dnar biometry NHS Databases, “it said.
Commenting on the proposal in the crime and political added that police should never be allowed access to a database controls of biometric records of biometric records of people, who is a want on a want live Never Committed a Crime, and did otherwise not consent to the use of their information in this way.
Liberty further added that the proposed code of practice should not be accepted as a safeguard. “There should be primary legislation governing the overall police use of facial reconstrance. It should not be piecemeal in this way, “It said.
As it stands, the uk has no legislation explicitly covering the police use of facial recognition technologies, although successive governments have repeatedComprehensive legal framework“, Which consists of a patchwork of existing legislation.
While there has been limited parlomentary scrutiny of facial recognition in the form of written questions and answers over the years, There has only been one formal debate on how Police are using the technology in ParliamentWhich was help in November 2024.
This marked the first time mps openly discussed police use of the tech in the eight years Since Live Facial Recognition (LFR) was the first deployed by the metropolitan police at notoring at notoring Hills 2016.
Since that Initial Deployment, there have been reepeated calls from parliament and civil social frameworks to govern law enforcement's use of LFR Technology. These include three separate inquiries by the lords justice and home affairs committee (jhac) Into Shoplifting, Police algorithms and Police facial recognitionTwo of the UK's Former Biometrics Commissioners, Paul wiles and Fraser Sampsonan independent legal review by matthew ryder Qc; the UK's Equalities and Human Rights Commissionand the House of Commons Science and Technology CommitteeWhoch Called for a Moratorium on Lfr as far back as July 2019.
Attempts to link facial recognition systems with uk databases created for other purposes have been ongoing for a number of years.
In October 2023, Philp outlined His Intention to Give Police Forces Access to the UK's Passport DatabaseClaiming it would enhance their facial recognition capabilites to help catch shoplifters and other criminals.
While Philp's Proposals were Blasted by Human Rights and Privacy Groups, UK Regulators Alaso Took ISSUE. For example, the then-biometrics and surveillance commissioner of england and wales, Fraser Sampson, Told the Bbc It was important for police to avoid giving people the impression they're on a “digital line-up”.
“The state has large collections of good-quality photos of a significant proportion of the population-drivers and passport holders being good examples-Which WHICH WHICH WHICH WHICH WHICH EXAPLES Condition of, Say, Driving and International Travel, “He said.
“If the state routinely runs every photoGraph against the picture of every suspected incident of crime simply because it can, there is a significant rainfication show of disprotality and disprotality and of damaging public Trust, “Added Sampson.
Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Brian Plastow also said It would be “egregious” to link the uk's passport database with facial recognition systems, arguing it would be “Unethical and potentially unlawful”.
“The suggestion that images given voluntarily to uk government agencies for a specific purpose by law-Abiding citizens to obtain a uk passport or uk driving license Routinely Accessed by the Police and 'Bulk Washed' Against Images from Low-Low-LW Crime Scenes is Neither Proportionate Nor Strictly Nextly Nextly Necessary and Orstly Damage Public Trus Said at the time.