Live Facial Recognition Technology: everything you need to know

The specific purpose for live facial recognition deployment is:

To support policing in the identification of persons wanted for priority offences, to support law enforcement including the administration of justice (through arrest of persons wanted on warrant or unlawfully at large/ recall to prison), and to ensure and promote the safeguarding of children and vulnerable persons at risk.

The locations where facial recognition is deployed are clearly marked with signage.

Click to see the results of all deployments for live facial recognition.

Live Facial Recognition Technology

Live Facial Recognition technology is used as an efficient and effective policing tactic to prevent and detect crime, and protect the most vulnerable in our society.

We typically use the technology at public events and crowded public spaces and is deployed to aid policing operations where we have intelligence that supports its use.

During a trial in March 2022, three positive identifications were made resulting in two arrests. 

South Wales Police uses the NEC NeoFace M40 algorithm.

Common points to know on the use of Live Facial Recognition

Legislative use of FRT after the previous Court of Appeal judgment

After a previous Court of Appeal judgment highlighted areas including our equality duty  needed to be explored and resolved,  trial deployments, testing and evaluation of data has been carried out and confirmed that the responsible way in which the technology is used by South Wales Police does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, age or race.

In addition, the results of an independent evaluation by the National Physical Laboratory shows that there is no risk of the technology causing a breach of equality requirements through bias or discrimination. As a result, South Wales Police has been able to resume its use of facial recognition technology in a fair, legitimate, ethical and proportionate way since 5 April 2023.

Sources of facial profiles that are captured on a watchlist

If you are not on a watchlist we will never store your biometric data. It is immediately and automatically deleted. In addition, South Wales Police will delete all alerts immediately after using them or within 24 hours. The CCTV footage used by the technology is recorded and kept for up to 31 days.

The list of faces that are used to compare during the deployment

This is a watch list for deployments which contain details of people who are wanted for crimes, subject to court orders or pose a risk to the public. Unless you are on the watch list you cannot be matched. There has not been one single wrongful arrest because of South Wales Police’s use of facial recognition. When the technology finds a possible match, an alert is generated.

Any alerts are verified by an operator prior to an intervention by officers on the ground. The system will only seek to match those individuals placed on the watch list. Each watch list is unique to that event where the technology is being deployed.

Immediate deletion of "no alert" images and biometric data

This relates to biometric data so for people who don’t cause an alert. The biometric data is automatically and immediately deleted. For those images that cause an alert, these are deleted within 24 hours.

Privacy rights and the legality of live facial recognition technology

The use of live facial recognition technology by South Wales Police is designed to be responsible, proportionate, and fair. It aims to keep the public safe, identifying serious offenders and protecting the vulnerable. South Wales Police uses transparency that demonstrates effectiveness, proportionality and compliance with legislation and guidelines when deploying live facial recognition technology.

How live facial recognition technology works

LFR cameras target an area and the images are streamed to the live facial recognition technology. The images are compared against the images in the watchlist. When the technology finds a possible match using NEC’s NeoFace M40 algorithm, an alert is generated.

Opting out for law-abiding citizens

Only persons who are wanted or suspect will be on an authorised watch list, and they are unable to opt out. If you wish to physically avoid a deployment this is not grounds on its own for us to have any interaction with you. We will always publish the dates and locations of a deployment several days in advance, except in very exceptional circumstances.

Data on file and access to that data

Images/biometric data of those who don’t cause an alert are automatically and immediately deleted. Images which cause an alert are deleted immediately after using them, or within 24 hours. CCTV footage that's used by the LFR technology is recorded and kept for 31 days.

No gender and ethnic bias in live facial recognition technology

Historically there have been issues with Facial Recognition Technology and potential gender and ethnic bias. As the technology has developed over time this bias has reduced greatly. 

Having worked with the National Physics Laboratory, a report has been produced which gives us an impartial, scientifically underpinned and evidence-based analysis of the performance of the facial recognition algorithm currently used by the Metropolitan Police Service and South Wales Police. It tells us:

• We now better understand the demographic performance of our LFR system. There are settings our algorithm can be operated at where there is no statistical significance between demographic performance.
• that there was no demographic performance variation for RFR; and
• that there was no demographic performance variation for OIFR

Data is never passed on to other parties

We will never pass biometric data to third party agencies.

All CCTV footage generated from a mobile CCTV deployment is deleted within 31 days, in the following examples when it is retained:

• in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, MOPI and the Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996; and /or
• in accordance with SWP’s complaints / conduct investigation policies.

Information on the percentage of facial captures recognised by the system

This percentage can vary and is impacted by several factors including the scope of the watch list and how many people pass through the zone of recognition for the camera.

Results of previous live facial recognition deployments

Data and results of all deployments for Live Facial Recognition.

Data Protection Impact Assessment DPIA for deployment

All the documents concerning the deployment of Live Facial Recognition are available on Live Facial Recognition documents.

Operational testing by South Wales Police

South Wales Police has undertaken testing of its Facial Recognition Technology in conjunction with Metropolitan Police Service and National Physical Laboratory to determine the accuracy of the technology, to test for the presence of bias towards any sub-demographic group on the basis of Age, Ethnicity or sex, and to determine the optimum conditions whereby the technology can operate without any identifiable bias towards any sub-demographic group whilst achieving the best possible outcomes for law enforcement.

The findings of this trial can be accessed on an external website - science and technology in policing.