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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Daniel Boffey and Mark Wilding

Live facial recognition cameras may become ‘commonplace’ as police use soars

Police Liberty Liberty Investigates the Home Office Wales England London
A police van with facial recognition cameras attached
Live facial recognition involves matching faces caught on cameras against a police watchlist in real time. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Police believe live facial recognition cameras may become “commonplace” in England and Wales, according to internal documents, with the number of faces scanned having doubled to nearly 5m in the last year.

A joint investigation by the Guardian and Liberty Investigates highlights the speed at which the technology is becoming a staple of British policing.

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