UK High Court upholds Met Police use of live facial recognition despite misidentification
The UK High Court rejected a challenge by privacy campaigners against the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition technology, upholding its deployment despite concerns about arbitrary use, discrimination, and a documented misidentification incident. The ruling permits continued rollout of the technology across the country.
What happened
Privacy campaigners Shaun Thompson, a youth worker, and Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, brought a High Court challenge against the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition technology deployed at locations such as Oxford Circus. They argued the technology breached rights to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly outlined in the European Convention of Human Rights, and claimed officers had excessive discretion that had a 'chilling effect' on the ability to protest.
The High Court rejected the challenge on 21 April 2026, upholding the Met Police's use of the technology. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called the ruling an 'important victory for public safety', and Policing Minister Sarah Jones announced the technology would be rolled out across the country with 'record investment'. Thompson announced his intention to appeal the decision.
Reported impact
In February 2024, Thompson was stopped, detained and questioned by police in London after being misidentified by the facial recognition system and matched with his brother, who was on bail for a suspected violent offence. Thompson said the experience was 'shocking and unfair'.
Index analysis
The system instantly compares scanned images of faces in public to a database of wanted criminals or missing people. If a face does not match anyone on the database, the system deletes the image instantly; if it finds a possible match, it alerts officers who double-check the match before deciding whether to stop the individual.
Campaigners argued that the plans for permanent installations in the capital would make it 'impossible' for Londoners to travel without their biometric data being taken and processed.
Governance controls
Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital, marked with signage before cameras are activated to scan people in chosen areas such as busy high streets.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.