High Court approves Met Police's facial recog after dispute

The UK High Court has ruled that the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology is lawful and does not violate human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The case was brought by civil liberties group Big Brother Watch on behalf of Shaun Thompson, who was falsely identified as a criminal suspect by LFR cameras. Despite the ruling, Thompson plans to appeal. Critics highlight that false positives disproportionately affect Black people — 80% of false positives in recent data — while the Met claims the tech has led to over 2,100 arrests since 2024. The UK government continues to expand LFR deployments despite ongoing concerns about racial bias.