Police use of facial recognition ‘breaches human rights and data protection law’

Court ruling represents a ‘landmark legal victory’

The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a challenge by campaigners over the use of facial recognition technology by police forces, reports the Financial Times. The court ruled that there were ‘fundamental deficiencies’ in the legal framework governing its deployment, and too broad a discretion given to police officers. While the ruling was welcomed by civil rights campaigners, police sources said that it had ‘simply set out much clearer parameters to its use’, insisting it was ‘not a fatal blow’. London has a network of 420,000 CCTV cameras, and is considered the world’s most monitored city after Beijing, says the newspaper. Read more (£)