Home Office launches consultation on legal framework for police use of facial recognition

The Home Office has published new guidance, survey findings and an open consultation on a future legal framework for biometrics and facial recognition. techUK will submit a response and invites members to share their views to help shape a clear, trusted and future-proofed approach.

The Home Office has released guidance on police use of facial recognition technology, results of a public attitudes survey, alongside an open consultation seeking views on a new legal framework for law enforcement’s use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. The consultation runs until 12 February 2026 and techUK will develop a written response. To share your views and feed into techUK’s response, please email [email protected]and cc in [email protected] and [email protected]

Key information:

Home Office guidance: Police use of facial recognition (Published: 4 December 2025)

Open consultation on a new legal framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies (Deadline: 12 February 2026)

Public attitudes survey: Published alongside the consultation, a Home Office survey found two in three people support police use of facial recognition technology, though many expressed concerns about potential misuse and false identification risks.

Police use of facial recognition: current practice

The Home Office guidance released sets out how police forces in England and Wales currently use three types of facial recognition technology:

Retrospective Facial Recognition (RFR): Used after an incident to identify suspects by comparing images from CCTV, mobile phones, or social media against custody photos on the Police National Database. Over 25,000 searches are conducted monthly.

Live Facial Recognition (LFR): Uses live video footage to compare faces against a watchlist of wanted individuals in public spaces. Thirteen police forces have deployed this technology, with deployments in London from January 2024 to September 2025 leading to over 1,300 arrests for serious crimes including rape, domestic abuse and knife crime.

Operator Initiated Facial Recognition (OIFR): A mobile app allowing officers to verify identity on the street without taking someone into custody. Currently used by South Wales Police and Gwent Police.

The guidance highlights that while a legal framework exists based on common law powers and data protection, human rights and equality legislation, the current approach is complex and difficult for both police and the public to understand fully.

New legal framework consultation

Recognising that confident and consistent use of facial recognition at greater scale requires clearer rules, the Government is consulting on a new legal framework with four core objectives:

Scope of the consultation

The consultation explores whether the framework should extend beyond facial recognition to cover:

"Facial recognition technology can deliver real benefits for law enforcement and help create safer communities. This powerful technology offers opportunities but raises concerns that must be properly understood and addressed.

"We welcome the Home Office consultation; regulation clarity, certainty and consistency on how this technology will be used will be paramount to establish trust and long-term public support. We stand ready to support the consultation process to ensure that we get this right."

Next steps

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