This week, the **EFF**, alongside **Big Brother Watch**, **Defend Digital Me**, **Liberty**, **Open Rights Group**, **Race Equality First**, **Statewatch**, and **Stopwatch**, penned a letter to **Nottinghamshire Police Force** in the UK, raising significant concerns about the proposed rollout of live facial recognition (LFR) technology and demanding its immediate cessation. The letter highlights six key areas of concern that challenge the force's justification for implementing LFR. ### LFR: More Than 'Just Another Tool' **Nottinghamshire Police** has stated that "facial recognition is just another tool to fight crime." However, the coalition argues that LFR, when used in public spaces, constitutes an incredibly intrusive form of biometric mass surveillance. It indiscriminately scans the faces of everyone who passes by, capturing biometric face prints. This represents a significant escalation of surveillance, effectively treating every individual as a suspect by default. ### 'Nothing to Worry About' Falls Short The police force's assertion that "if you aren’t entering the city or county to commit crime then you have nothing to worry about" is heavily scrutinized. Privacy advocates contend that the normalization of such invasive technologies can deter individuals from engaging in essential activities, such as seeking medical or legal advice, speaking with journalists, participating in union activities, voting, protesting, or expressing their identity, out of fear of being constantly monitored. ### Disproportionate Targeting with LFR A particular concern revolves around the potential deployment of LFR to address low-level crimes, including youth anti-social behavior, as part of "Operation View." Reports suggest the force already possesses a "watchlist of young people believed to be causing the most problems," some as young as 11 years old. The groups argue that using LFR for such purposes is highly disproportionate, especially when more conventional and less intrusive methods are likely available for locating these children. ### LFR's Potential to Exacerbate Social Problems The coalition also raises concerns that **Nottinghamshire Police** has not adequately assessed the distinct risks associated with using LFR to target children. These risks include potential negative impacts on their behavior and outcomes, an increased risk of recidivism, and the fostering of an adversarial rather than trusting relationship with law enforcement from a young age. ### Lack of Public Support Public opinion appears to be largely against the widespread use of LFR. Recent polling commissioned by **Liberty** indicated that 48% of people oppose scanning faces on high streets without an imminent threat. Furthermore, **Opinium** found that a majority of the public opposes facial recognition in schools. A report by the **London Policing Ethics Panel** also revealed that Londoners aged 16-24 were most likely to find the **Metropolitan Police Service's** use of LFR unacceptable and were more likely to avoid events where it was deployed. Given these profound concerns, the organizations urge **Nottinghamshire Police** to immediately halt its plans for any further use of live facial recognition surveillance.