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Information about Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036325

I note you seek access to the following information:

For the purpose of this request, Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) can be defined as the following:

  • Live Facial Recognition: Real-time analysis of faces from live camera feeds.
  •  Retrospective Facial Recognition: Analysis run on previously captured photos or videos.
  • Operator-initiated Facial Recognition: Mobile on-demand facial recognition, where users capture a facial image which is then compared against a database. Full definitions can be found here: Facial Recognition Technology
  1. Is your police force currently using or trialling FRT? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) used. If no:
    a) Has your police force previously trialled or used FRT? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) used.
    b) Is your police force planning to trial FRT in future? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) planned to be used.
  2. Where and when has live facial recognition been deployed by your police force? Please provide answer in a tabular spreadsheet specifying the time/date, location, reason for deployment and whether deployment is a temporary or permanent installation.
  3. How many individuals have your police force scanned with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes).
  4. How many individuals have your police force correctly identified with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes
  5. How many individuals have your police force incorrectly identified with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes
  6. How many individuals have been placed on FRT watchlists by your police force? Broken down by each category defined by the college of policing (Wanted by courts, suspected of an offence or reasonable grounds to suspect individual is about to commit offence, subject to bail conditions, missing person at increased risk of harm, posing a risk of harm to themselves or others, an associate of any of the previous categories, a witness to an offence or a victim of an offence.)
  7. How many images does your police force hold to use for FRT, and what is the source of these images?
  8. Are images of people scanned during facial recognition retained? If so, how many?
  9. Are images of people arrested, but not charged/summonsed retained for facial recognition purposes? If so, how many?
  10. What rules/policies govern the use of FRT within your police force?
  11. What specific measures have been taken to combat potential gender and racial biases in facial recognition technology?

If any part of my request would trigger an exemption, I would seek advice and assistance under section 16 of the FOI Act to refine or clarify.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31(1)(a)&(b) Law Enforcement

Reason for decision

The information requested for Q6 which requests the LFR watch list broken down by each category defined by the college of policing (Wanted by courts, suspected of an offence or reasonable grounds to suspect individual is about to commit offence, subject to bail conditions, missing person at increased risk of harm, posing a risk of harm to themselves or others, an associate of any of the previous categories, a witness to an offence or a victim of an offence) is not suitable for open publication as it would be harmful to policing operations as it goes to identifying how the LFR watch list is compiled and would inform wanted individuals of what we are looking for and could enable them to avoid detection which would have a serious impact on our ability to enforce the law. Therefore, we have applied the exemption provided under Section 31 of the Act (Law Enforcement) to your request.

Disclosure of the LFR watch list broken down by each category defined by the college of policing (Wanted by courts, suspected of an offence or reasonable grounds to suspect individual is about to commit offence, subject to bail conditions, missing person at increased risk of harm, posing a risk of harm to themselves or others, an associate of any of the previous categories, a witness to an offence or a victim of an offence) would enable individuals with criminal intent to avoid detection. This would be likely to cause harm to the MPS as it would disrupt our core functions. Subsequently harm would then be likely to occur in respect of individuals who would be more likely to become a victim of crime if our systems/processes were disrupted and this would also have implications for the wider community and other organisations we work with (including other police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service).

The release of this information could compromise the MPS’s law enforcement capabilities and the effectiveness of the force will be reduced. It could undermine current and/or future strategies when carrying out investigations and gathering evidence may be compromised. The personal safety of individuals is of paramount importance to the Police Service and must be considered in response of every release. A disclosure under Freedom of Information is a release to the world and, in this case, confirmation of how our LFR watch list is compiled would negatively impact on the work of the MPS and also put our information at risk.

Law Enforcement is reliant on community engagement, intelligence and evidence gathering and when it is appropriate, information is given to the public. What has been established in this case is the fact that the release of information relating to how the LFR watch list is compiled would be harmful and have an adverse effect on the investigative process and on the public prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This places the victims of such offending at a greater risk towards their health and wellbeing and is not an action the Police Service would be willing to take. These negatives outweigh any tangible community benefit and therefore the balance does not favour a confirmation or denial statement at this time.

Disclosure

Q1 - Is your police force currently using or trialling FRT? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) used. If no:

This information is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link Live Facial Recognition | Metropolitan Police

Q1a - Has your police force previously trialled or used FRT? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) used – Please visit above link.
Q1b - Is your police force planning to trial FRT in future? Please specify the type of FRT tool(s) planned to be used - Please visit above link.

Q2 - Where and when has live facial recognition been deployed by your police force? Please provide answer in a tabular spreadsheet specifying the time/date, location, reason for deployment and whether deployment is a temporary or permanent installation.

This information is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk)

Q3 - How many individuals have your police force scanned with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes (Link Removed)

Part 1 of the question is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk)

Part 2 of the question is no information held, the system does not attempt to classify a person by a particular characteristic.

Q4 - How many individuals have your police force correctly identified with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes:

Part 1 of the question is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link: LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk)

Part 2 of the question is no information held, the system does not attempt to classify a person by a particular characteristic.

Q5 - How many individuals have your police force incorrectly identified with FRT? Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity, using IC codes:

Part 1 of the question is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link: LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk)

Part 2 of the question is no information held, the system does not attempt to classify a person by a particular characteristic.

Q6 - How many individuals have been placed on FRT watchlists by your police force? Broken down by each category defined by the college of policing (Wanted by courts, suspected of an offence or reasonable grounds to suspect individual is about to commit offence, subject to bail conditions, missing person at increased risk of harm, posing a risk of harm to themselves or others, an associate of any of the previous categories, a witness to an offence or a victim of an offence.)

Part 1 of the question is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link: LFR Deployment Grid (met.police.uk)

Part 2 engages Sec 31 as releasing this data would be harmful to policing operations as it goes to identifying how a watch list is complied.

Q7 - How many images does your police force hold to use for FRT, and what is the source of these images?

There is no information held for this question but under our duty to assist – The MPS does not hold images specifically for the purpose of use for FRT. Please visit this link for more information MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf(met.police.uk)

Q8 - Are images of people scanned during facial recognition retained? If so, how many?

This information is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit this link: MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf(met.police.uk)

Q9 - Are images of people arrested, but not charged/summonsed retained for facial recognition purposes? If so, how many?

This information is in the public domain Sec 16 Duty to Assist MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf(met.police.uk)

Q10 - What rules/policies govern the use of FRT within your police force?

This information is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit these links - MPS Overt LFR Policy Document.pdf(met.police.uk)

Q11 - What specific measures have been taken to combat potential gender and racial biases in facial recognition technology?

This information is already in the public domain and under Section 16 duty to assist please visit these links - Directorate of Legal Services (met.police.uk) & Operational Testing of Facial Recognition Technology (science.police.uk). You may also wish to read the published Equality Impact Assessment (EIA ) and visit this link Facial Recognition Technology