Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleA crowd at a previous Boardmasters festival in Cornwall (Boardmasters/PA)Devon and Cornwall Police are deploying live facial recognition technology for the first time at the Boardmasters Festival in Newquay this weekend, an event expected to attract 50,000 attendees. A police van equipped with a biometric camera will be positioned in Killacourt, scanning faces against a 'watch list' of thousands of known criminals, suspects and individuals with sexual harm prevention orders or suspected of drug dealing. Chief inspector Peter Shabytah, leading the operation, insists the technology is not 'mass surveillance' but a targeted effort to ensure public safety, particularly to prevent drug-related harm to young festival-goers, with non-matching scans deleted instantly. The use of live facial recognition has drawn criticism from liberty groups, including Big Brother Watch, which previously lost a High Court challenge against the Metropolitan Police over concerns about arbitrary or discriminatory deployment. Despite ongoing concerns and the absence of a full legal framework, the government plans to significantly increase the number of police vans equipped with this technology across England and Wales, from 10 to 50. In fullBoardmasters Festival: Police defend controversial live facial recognition technology used on thousands of attendeesMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Why police are using live facial recognition cameras at popular UK music festival
Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleA crowd at a previous Boardmasters festival in Cornwall (Boardmasters/PA)Devon and Cornwall Police are deploying live facial recognition technology for the first time at the Boardmasters Festival in Newquay this weekend, an event expected to attract 50,000 attendees. A police van equipped with a biometric camera will be positioned in Killacourt, scanning faces against a 'watch list' of thousands of known criminals, suspects and individuals with sexual harm prevention orders or suspected of drug dealing. Chief inspector Peter Shabytah, leading the operation, insists the technology is not 'mass surveillance' but a targeted effort to ensure public safety, particularly to prevent drug-related harm to young festival-goers, with non-matching scans deleted instantly. The use of live facial recognition has drawn criticism from liberty groups, including Big Brother Watch, which previously lost a High Court challenge against the Metropolitan Police over concerns about arbitrary or discriminatory deployment. Despite ongoing concerns and the absence of a full legal framework, the government plans to significantly increase the number of police vans equipped with this technology across England and Wales, from 10 to 50. In fullBoardmasters Festival: Police defend controversial live facial recognition technology used on thousands of attendeesMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
