Government expands police use of facial recognition vans

The UK government has expanded the use of facial recognition vans, which are equipped with cameras that can scan people's faces in public spaces. The Home Office claims this technology assists in locating suspects, but civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the potential for increased surveillance and the impact on individual privacy. The vans, operated by the police, use live facial recognition software to compare scanned faces against a database of wanted individuals. While the government argues this helps in law enforcement efforts, privacy advocates warn that the widespread deployment of such technology could lead to a "surveillance state" and disproportionately target certain communities. The expansion of the facial recognition van program comes amid ongoing debates about the balance between public safety and civil liberties. As the technology becomes more prevalent, there are calls for greater transparency, oversight, and clear regulations to ensure its use is justified and respectful of individual rights.