Petition · past parliament · Ministry of Justice

Ban the use of facial recognition cameras by police, public and private bodies

Closed 414 signatures

What the petition asks

We already live in one of the most surveilled countries in the world, with CCTV being widely used in public, commercial and business areas. This includes our public streets and roads. We believe there is no need to add facial recognition to the surveillance systems already in use.
The increasing expansion of the surveillance state is a serious threat to our civil liberties, and we believe it is being implemented without adequate public consultation. Individuals privacy is already under threat from widespread CCTV use and data sharing from one entity to another. Data on the use of facial recognition has found that live facial recognition can be inaccurate over 80% of the time, and can be discriminatory and more likely to wrongly identify innocent people of colour, especially women. Plus police forces have been found to be using facial recognition technology unlawfully.

Timeline

17 Jul 2023 Petition opened for signatures
17 Jan 2024 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 414
Status Closed
Department Ministry of Justice
Opened 17 Jul 2023
Closed 17 Jan 2024

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.