Deputy mayor reacts to police facial recognition tech

Jo Coles, whose remit includes policing, fire and crime, welcomed North Yorkshire Police using the technology to tackle crime but said it must be used “responsibly and with robust safeguards”.

It comes after the police force announced it would be using live facial recognition technology in “carefully selected, intelligence‑led locations” in York and North Yorkshire.

The technology works by comparing live camera footage to a watchlist made up of individuals who meet the police’s criteria.

North Yorkshire Police will now use live facial recognition technology (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

A force spokesperson said the facial recognition technology will be used in the county to help identify people who pose a risk to the public, people wanted for criminal offences by the police or the courts, and those subject to court orders restricting them from certain areas.

Ms Coles said there are no “specific proposals for the use of this technology” from North Yorkshire Police, but noted that it had been used by several other police forces across England.

The Labour deputy mayor said the use of any new technology by police “requires particular scrutiny and assurance as some members of the public may be concerned about implications in terms of civil liberties, safeguarding and the potential targeting of minority groups”.

She said she recognised “those concerns and am seeking particular and ongoing assurances around this proposal from North Yorkshire in a number of areas”.

North Yorkshire Police will now use live facial recognition technology (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

Ms Coles said she would be seeking assurances from North Yorkshire Police about data storage from the facial recognition cameras. This also includes how the footage is shared “with particular regard to people’s civil liberties” and whether the companies involved in the technology “have any access to York and North Yorkshire information”, Ms Coles said.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson has said images that do not match the force’s “watchlist” will be “deleted immediately and permanently”, adding: “The watchlist itself is deleted at the conclusion of each deployment.”

North Yorkshire Police is yet to reveal the exact locations of where the facial recognition will be used, which Ms Coles said she will be pressing the force on.

Deputy mayor to seek assurances from police on ‘legal premise’ for facial recognition tech

Meanwhile, Ms Coles said she will be seeking assurances from North Yorkshire Police on the “legal premise for the proposals and whether this is proportionate to the challenges the police face”.

The deputy mayor said she is also “mindful of people’s concerns about the possibility of ‘mission creep’”, when small, limited goals escalate to larger affairs.

Ms Coles said she will seek assurances from the police force that the “scope of any proposed deployment is proportionate to existing patterns of crime and antisocial behaviour the police have to deal with”.

She said she will also be seeking assurances that the live facial recognition technology “will only be used in addition to the physical policing presence which is so important in providing reassurance to the public at major events”.

The deputy mayor added that she would be monitoring whether the technology resulted in any cost savings for the police budget.