The Metropolitan Police must immediately halt its expansion of live facial recognition technology across London until a comprehensive public consultation takes place, a new report by London Assembly member Zoë Garbett AM has demanded.
The City Hall report raises serious concerns about privacy breaches, human rights violations and discriminatory outcomes from the technology's rapid deployment in public spaces across the capital. Met Police figures show a significant increase in live facial recognition operations, yet critics argue the current legal framework fails to protect civil liberties.
Accuracy problems plague the technology, with studies showing facial recognition systems produce higher error rates when identifying women and people of colour. This leads to potential misidentification and wrongful stops, raising serious questions about fair policing in diverse communities across London.
The report highlights the absence of democratic mandate for widespread facial recognition use. Ms Garbett argues that decisions affecting fundamental surveillance in society require extensive public debate and clear parliamentary oversight, not unilateral police deployment.
The call demands more than delay - it seeks complete re-evaluation of the Met's facial recognition strategy. Independent experts and affected communities must scrutinise the technology's ethical implications, effectiveness and necessity before any further rollout proceeds.
The intervention comes as police forces nationwide increasingly adopt advanced surveillance technologies. Ms Garbett's report provides a critical voice pushing for human rights-centred approaches to law enforcement technology integration, challenging the Met's current trajectory on privacy grounds.