Responding to the ruling from the Court of Appeal that the use of automatic facial recognition technology by the South Wales Police is unlawful, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokeperson Christine Jardine said: “This ruling is hugely important in the battle to protect civil liberties in this country. The unlawful use of facial recognition in Cardiff raises serious questions about its use by British police forces in the future.
“This new form of mass surveillance is being rolled out without any safeguards to protect innocent people from being discriminated against or having their privacy invaded. The Liberal Democrats have long been clear that this is unacceptable – we do not want to see the UK become a society where innocent individuals feel their every movement is being monitored by the police.
“Liberal Democrats will always fight to protect civil liberties. The Government must immediately halt the police’s use of facial recognition surveillance, before more innocent people face discrimination or see their rights disregarded.”