Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 14 December 2020 to Question 910164 on the protection of shop workers, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with supermarkets on the use of live facial recognition in their stores.

The Minister for Crime and Policing has not had any discussions with supermarkets since the Answer of 14 December 2020.

The use of biometric data (including facial images) by private companies to identify individuals is regulated by the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the legislation, data processing must be fair, lawful and transparent. Companies would generally need to show that the use of biometric data was necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, as defined by the legislation. Individuals who consider their data has been misused can make complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office, the independent regulator of the legislation.

On 27 November, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) published its review into bias in algorithmic decision-making, which explored the different ways that algorithmic decision-making may affect protected characteristic data, such as race. We will respond to the report in due course. Facial recognition also remains a high priority for the ICO, which has indicated that it will be publishing more about its use by the private sector later this year.