The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has called for stronger governance of police facial recognition after completing five audits that produced 107 recommendations for forces in England and Wales.
The audits examined both live facial recognition, which compares people passing a camera with a watchlist, and retrospective facial recognition searches of previously collected images. Conducted between June 2025 and March 2026, the reviews covered South Wales and Gwent, Essex, Leicestershire, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester police.
The regulator found several established safeguards. Police generally documented a lawful basis for processing biometric data, limited unnecessary data use during live deployments and maintained procedures for identifying and reporting data breaches. Compliance was generally stronger for live deployments than for retrospective searches.
However, the ICO identified urgent work around senior oversight and accountability. It said forces should improve staff training, maintain fuller records of the personal information being processed and strengthen controls over the source and retention of images used in retrospective searches. The regulator also called for more consistent testing of system accuracy and controls to reduce unfairness or demographic bias.
The ICO separately highlighted reported bias in the algorithm used for retrospective searches of the Police National Database. The Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council have introduced staff training, oversight reports and equality impact assessments while preparing to replace that algorithm.
All 107 compliance and good-practice recommendations were accepted or partially accepted by the audited forces. Each force has submitted an action plan, and the ICO is working with national police facial-recognition leads to encourage consistent improvements. A separate Metropolitan Police audit is scheduled for later in 2026.
The findings broaden scrutiny that previously led Essex Police to pause one facial recognition system over bias concerns. They also arrive as political debate continues over proposals to make facial matching mandatory for some police suspect images.
The ICO said facial recognition can help police prevent and detect crime, but that public trust depends on lawful and transparent use. The recommendations are intended to guide every police force using the technology across England and Wales, not only the five organizations audited.
Sources: Information Commissioner’s Office, ICO Overview Report
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
