Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of expanded police powers to use facial recognition on the privacy of residents in Devon.

The Home Office has not assessed the potential impact of expanded use of facial recognition on the privacy of residents in Devon, specifically, although the Government recognises that facial recognition will usually involve some degree of interference with people’s rights, such as the right to privacy, which must be minimised, necessary and proportionate to a policing purpose.

The existing legal framework governing police use of facial recognition requires compliance with data protection, equalities, and human rights laws, national guidance, the Code of Practice for surveillance cameras, and is supplemented by specific policies published by individual forces.

The Government launched a public consultation on 04/12/2025 on the use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies which, will help inform the design of a new legal framework for these technologies. The consultation explores when and how these technologies should be used and asks the public what factors are relevant to consider when assessing interference with privacy.