Facial recognition cameras could soon be used at transport hubs and public events as part of a major immigration enforcement scheme.
Newly published Home Office policy documents reveal plans to use live facial recognition (LFR) technology to identify people suspected of immigration offences, including visa overstayers and those attempting to re-enter the UK unlawfully.
The technology is being considered for use at busy locations and public gatherings to help locate individuals subject to removal or detention under immigration law.
The Home Office said this approach could reduce the need for repeated enforcement visits to homes and workplaces, thereby minimising disruption to the wider public, The Guardian reports.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was "considering further trials" of live facial recognition by immigration enforcement officers and was "actively exploring the potential benefits, implications and future use of the technology".
How would the facial recognition plans work?
The plans were outlined in a guidance document for immigration officials published on October 8, along with a data protection impact assessment released later that month.
The policy follows Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s decision to double the immigration enforcement budget and increase the workforce by 60%, enabling more raids, arrests, and deportations.
Between November last year and February, immigration enforcement carried out three LFR trials at Holyhead port in North Wales.
The trials focused on identifying individuals travelling to the UK from Ireland through the Common Travel Area who were subject to deportation orders or wanted for immigration-related criminal offences.
The documents indicate that the scheme is now in the formal delivery phase.
Future plans include deploying LFR at transport hubs and events expected to draw large crowds, though no specific locations have been named.
The documents also suggest that individuals who have overstayed visas or entered the UK without permission, both considered civil rather than criminal offences, could be placed on LFR watchlists.
Campaigners have strongly criticised the proposed expansion, calling it a "huge and shocking escalation of mass surveillance."
Griff Ferris, a spokesperson for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said immigration enforcement already employed tactics that "persecute and terrorise migrant communities" and that giving it more power to use a "racist mass surveillance tool in public places is frightening".
Concerns have also been raised about the accuracy and fairness of facial recognition technology, particularly its tendency to misidentify people of colour.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Home Office had continued using an AI facial-age estimation tool despite evidence that it misidentified child migrants as adults.
The policy documents state that no one under the age of 18 will be included on LFR watchlists.
The Home Office maintains that the use of LFR is subject to external oversight by the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
However, William Webster, the current biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner, told Liberty Investigates that he was not consulted on the new policy.
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He also clarified that the use of LFR for immigration purposes falls outside his official remit.
Mr Webster said the growing use of facial recognition technology in different areas raises important questions about regulation and oversight.
He said: "The proliferation of LFR into different service contexts does raise important questions about the scope of existing regulatory oversight."
Officials say they are still evaluating the potential benefits and implications of expanding the use of the technology in immigration enforcement operations.
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