Written question asked by Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 23 November 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 December 2016. It was answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative) on Tuesday, 6 December 2016 on behalf of the Home Office.

---

Police: Biometrics

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to stop the use and retention of facial images by police forces in the light of the findings in the 8th Report of the National DNA Ethics Group of the propensity for errors in the use of digital searches of custody images, and the potential for these searches to result in mistaken identity and the wrongful inclusion of an individual in the early stages of a police investigation.

Answer

With respect to the findings in the report, we do not plan to stop the retention and use of custody images. These images are used by the police to obtain leads during investigations, but would only be one factor in these investigations.

---

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL3498

Session

2016-17

Subjects

Databases Biometrics Criminal investigation Police Photographs

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk