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Police: Biometrics

The UK Government remains focussed on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible, and we have been clear that we do not want or expect a no deal scenario. However, as a responsible government, we continue to prepare for all scenarios.

The Home Office has been planning and preparing for a no deal scenario for some time, and we have contingency plans in place across areas including law enforcement, passports and the border. Whatever the outcome of our exit from the EU, we remain committed to supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals both domestically and internationally. The UK’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) will be published shortly. The VNR will review UK action both domestically and internationally in support of Goal 16. It will also outline key challenges and next steps, recognising that while progress is being made, there is more work to do.

The Government believes that there is a legal framework for the use of live facial recognition technology, although that is being challenged in the courts and we would not want to pre-empt the outcome of this case.

The police have common law powers to use the technology for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 is the statutory basis for the processing of the facial images obtained from the technology for these purposes. Possible matches produced by these sys-tems are always checked by a human operator before deciding what, if any, action to take.