Last summer, when I stood down as the UK's first Commissioner for CCTV and Biometrics, the government was on the verge of scrapping what little legislation there was that covers this important area for policing. In any case, the general election saw the removal of the bill and, as it turns out, the government itself, so back to square one. And the first case is not sustainable.
Facial recognition has already been put on the Prime Minister's agenda and the regulatory framework enabling its responsible use by the police remains incomplete, inconsistent and incoherent.
The police in England and Wales have a successful track record of adopting innovative technology (think TASER, breathalyzers, DNA profiling, body-worn video) and deploying it responsibly in the interest of a more operational response effective against emerging threats. Under current law, the government must draw up a CCTV Code of Practice setting out how all public space surveillance systems operated by the police and local authorities should be used. It specifically addresses the use of live facial recognition, but there is one central point that I would draw the new government's attention to: the overall purpose. The Code aims to enable the use of technology in a way that the public expects and to a standard that maintains their trust and confidence. The Code is a good start, but it does not go far enough and the necessary conditions to enable the police to use the many technological advances in this critical area are things to be done.
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