Cambridgeshire police deploy live facial recognition in Cambridge

Cambridgeshire police have expanded the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology to Cambridge city centre. This deployment follows previous implementations in Peterborough.

The technology functions by capturing live camera feeds and comparing facial features against a police-generated watchlist. This watchlist includes individuals wanted for offences, those with outstanding warrants, and high-risk offenders. The system converts facial features into mathematical templates to identify potential matches in real time, though an officer must manually verify every match before any action is taken.

To address privacy concerns, authorities stated that images triggering an alert are deleted immediately or within 24 hours. Biometric data and images of individuals who do not trigger a match are also automatically deleted and cannot be retrieved.