UK police have been secretly using passport database for facial recognition for 3 years

Police in the UK have been using the country’s passport holder database to conduct facial recognition searches without public disclosure, a new investigation has revealed, sparking fears over privacy.

The secretive practice has been going on since 2019, according to records obtained by The Telegraph and Liberty Investigates. The facial recognition searches were conducted even though policing minister Chris Philp did not mention the possibility of using the passport database until October 2023.

The majority of the biometric searches …

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