What is Live Facial Recognition?
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) compares faces captured on camera with a police watchlist, in near real time. Here is what happens, step by step.
- 1
Camera
A police camera captures video of people passing through an area. Forces usually publish signage and, for planned deployments, an announcement.
- 2
Face analysis
Software analyses facial features in the video and turns each face into a biometric measurement — a set of numbers describing the face.
- 3
Comparison
Those measurements are compared with a watchlist of images assembled by the police for that deployment.
- 4
Possible match
If the software identifies a potential match, an officer may review it and decide what action, if any, to take.
A computer-generated alert is not the same thing as proof that someone has committed an offence.
Official guidance describes the alert as something an officer must review before deciding whether to act, rather than a determination in itself.