Facial recognition technology in shops provided by commercial company ‘Facewatch’ may soon alert police in real time to the presence of serious offenders, sparking uproar from civil liberties groups.
Facewatch, a facial recognition system already used by more than 125 retailers including Sainsbury’s, Budgens and Sports Direct to monitor shoplifters, said it will be launching a UK-first feature to alert police in real time when the most serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match.
Facewatch’s chief executive, Nick Fisher, said the feature would be launched in autumn and would trigger an “instant notification” the moment a high-risk offender is matched by live facial recognition as they enter a protected store, “enabling police to respond while an incident is still unfolding”.
However, civil liberties group Liberty has called for a pause on the expansion of facial recognition technology until a “strong legal framework” is in place, warning that the technology “continues to be rolled out without the legal safeguards, oversight and transparency needed to protect our rights”.
Melissa Dring, Interim Head of Policy and Campaigns at Liberty, said: “Police responding to alerts from an opaque and untested private facial recognition system that isn't subject to clear oversight should concern everyone. Facial recognition technology enables the tracking and surveillance of people going about their daily lives, while errors and misidentifications can leave innocent people facing police intervention through no fault of their own.
“[…] Until a strong legal framework is in place, police should be pausing the expansion of facial recognition technology, not accelerating it."
Facewatch confirmed it is still consulting with police forces regarding the new crime management platform, ahead of its planned launch in the autumn. A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said it has not been involved in the development of the product, and that “much further work is needed for us to understand its capabilities and how policing can use it.”
It added that any deployment of the new capability with a police force would be subject to “appropriate governance arrangements being agreed in advance”, including formal Data Sharing Agreements where required.
Facewatch was originally founded as a digital reporting tool to help businesses send usable incident reports to police.
Now, Facewatch cameras work by screening every person who walks into a store. If staff subsequently notice that someone who has entered the premises has committed a crime, they can log in to the Facewatch system and add them to the database.
When that Subject of Interest (SOI) then returns to the store – or goes to another store with the Facewatch system installed – two AI algorithms will compare the just-captured image of the SOI with the previous image, verifying a match and setting off an alert in-store.
In 2023, the Information Commissioner’s Office completed an investigation in relation to the company. During the course of its investigation, the ICO sent Facewatch a Compliance Assessment letter which outlined the ICO’s position in relation to Facewatch’s compliance with the data protection legislation.
It concluded that Facewatch’s processing of personal data “failed to balance the legitimate interest of Facewatch and their subscribers against the rights and freedoms of individuals.”
The ICO provided the company with the opportunity to respond to its conclusions. In mitigation, Facewatch sent further information in March and November 2022.
The ICO welcomed steps taken by Facewatch, and concluded that regulatory action was not required, while recommending further actions.
Last year, the Information Commissioner's Office also announced it was “stepping up scrutiny” of police use of facial recognition technology (FRT) and conducted an audit of South Wales Police and Gwent Police.
The audit assessed how the two forces govern their use of FRT and the protections they have in place to safeguard people’s personal information – such as staff training, retention of personal information and Data Protection Impact Assessments to mitigate risks.
The ICO said it was “encouraged by the findings”, which provided a “high level of assurance” that the processes and procedures in place at South Wales Police and Gwent Police were compliant with data protection law.
Since then, the ICO has carried out a series of audits of police forces using FRT, most recently Essex Police and Leicestershire Police.
In a blog post published in March this year, the ICO said: “What’s clear from this work so far is that robust data protection must sit at the heart of all police use of FRT. Forces may use the technology in different ways, but all must fully understand the systems they rely on and anchor their approach in strong governance: clear policies, defined roles and processes to ensure personal data is handled lawfully and securely.
“If police forces can’t get their governance right, it’s unlikely they’ll get FRT right.”
The ICO did not respond to a request on whether Facewatch has approached the regulator for authorisation or advice on its new proposals to alert police in real time to presence of offenders.
Earlier this year, the Met police published its policy on overt use of facial recognition within a live setting.
Pursuant to this policy, the Met may only deploy Live Facial Recognition (LFR):
• in a permitted ‘use case’;
• in compliance with the rules on watchlist construction;
• in compliance with the rules on watchlist images;
• at a permitted location;
• when an authorising officer has determined that the Deployment is proportionate in all the circumstances; and
• subject to requirements as to transparency.
There is not yet an official policy on the type of police / commercial provider collaboration proposed by Facewatch.
In light of the rapidly evolving landscape, Liberty has highlighted the need for a “strong legal framework” to be put in place ahead of such a major development.
Nick Fisher, CEO of Facewatch, said: “Facewatch’s technology, used by more than 125 retailers operating thousands of stores across the UK, has helped deter repeat offending by up to 70% while improving staff safety and morale at a time when there are 1,600 incidents of abuse and violence against shop workers every day, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
“Technology has an increasingly important role to play, not only in preventing crime before it happens but also in helping retailers manage what comes afterwards.
“That’s why we’re continuing to invest in new capabilities, including a new crime management platform which is designed to simplify how retailers record, manage and progress crime incidents from prevention through to reporting and investigation.”
