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Met police to pilot facial recognition identity checks, mayor confirms
Technology•February 26, 2026 at 5:20 PMNational

Met police to pilot facial recognition identity checks, mayor confirms

By Robert Booth UK technology editor•The Guardian - UK News

Sadiq Khan reveals 100 officers will use roaming technology for six months but opponents call its use ‘alarming’Metropolitan police officers are to start scanning citizens’ faces using automated facial recognition technology to check their identities, in a move backed by the mayor of London but described as “alarming” by opponents.The pilot was revealed on Thursday when Sadiq Khan said 100 officers would use the roaming technology – commonly deployed on smartphones – for six months. The mayor was responding to questioning from an opposition politician amid rising concern about the rollout of AI-powered policing tools. The Met’s website still states it “does not presently use the so-called operator initiated facial recognition”. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan reveals 100 officers will use roaming technology for six months but opponents call its use ‘alarming’

Metropolitan police officers are to start scanning citizens’ faces using automated facial recognition technology to check their identities, in a move backed by the mayor of London but described as “alarming” by opponents.

The pilot was revealed on Thursday when Sadiq Khan said 100 officers would use the roaming technology – commonly deployed on smartphones – for six months. The mayor was responding to questioning from an opposition politician amid rising concern about the rollout of AI-powered policing tools. The Met’s website still states it “does not presently use the so-called operator initiated facial recognition”.

Continue reading...

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