The Government has announced plans for an independent watchdog and new legislation through the Police Reform Bill to regulate facial recognition technology The Ada Lovelace Institute has welcomed government plans to regulate police facial recognition technology, while warning that safeguards must be matched by limits on how the technology is deployed.
In September the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) examined the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) by police forces in England and Wales, and highlighted the need for strong data protection governance to maintain public trust.
Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in Parliament on November 4, 2026: “Facial recognition technology has been the biggest breakthrough for catching criminals since DNA matching, already helping police take thousands of dangerous criminals off our streets.
The institute subsequently published policy papers in 2022 and 2025 calling for independent statutory regulation of biometric technologies.
"There should be a very high bar outside of law enforcement bodies for scanning the public's faces," she said.