{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0520","record_version":1,"title":"Court rejects challenge to Met Police live facial recognition use","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":62.7,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":20.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":5.44,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":3,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"ac474b2ff549a3f68caccd8ed6f79b165db3f77c44f5978e85018b3f1028e64d"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"production","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":"production","integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2024-02-01","date_occurred_precision":"month","date_disclosed":"2026-04-21","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"The Metropolitan Police uses live facial recognition vans in London. They scan people walking through chosen areas and compare their faces with a database of wanted criminals or missing people. Images that do not match are deleted, and officers double-check any possible match before deciding whether to stop someone. In February 2024 Shaun Thompson was stopped, detained and questioned after the technology matched him to his brother, who was on bail. He and campaigner Silkie Carlo brought a High Court challenge arguing that the use breached privacy and other rights. On 21 April 2026 the court rejected the claims and found the Met's use lawful with adequate safeguards against abuse. Thompson said he intends to appeal. The Met reports more than 2,100 arrests made with the technology since the start of 2024.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":"deployer","adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null,"primary_risk":"RK15","secondary_risks":["RK16"],"control_chain":[{"layer":"L3","party":"deployer","party_name":"Metropolitan Police","control_id":"H1","outcome":"held","reason":null,"quote":"If a face does not match anyone on the database, the system deletes the image instantly.","source_index":0,"reviewed":false}]},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Test: data of others touched with a bounded scope stated. More than three million passers-by were scanned in 2025 and 12 false alerts were logged.","harm_class":["privacy"],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq59x4vv954o","publisher":"BBC","date":"2026-04-21","type":"press","title":"Court challenge over Met Police's use of live facial recognition lost - BBC","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"},{"url":"https://www.easterneye.biz/london-police-win-court-battle-over-live-facial-recognition/","publisher":"EasternEye","date":"2026-04-21","type":"press","title":"Big Brother or Public Safety? Facial Recognition Ruling Sparks Debate - EasternEye","archived_url":null},{"url":"https://therecord.media/facial-recognition-uk-legal","publisher":"The Record from Recorded Future News","date":"2026-04-22","type":"press","title":"UK court determines police use of live facial recognition legal - The Record from Recorded Future News","archived_url":null}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.deployment_context":"C","system.lifecycle_stage":"C","event.date_occurred":"C","event.responsible_party":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","context.country":"C","context.industry":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.primary_risk":"D","event.secondary_risks":"D","event.control_chain":"C","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.deployment_context":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital."}],"system.lifecycle_stage":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital."}],"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In February 2024, he was stopped, detained and questioned by police in London after being matched by the technology with his brother, who, at the time, was on bail for a suspected violent offence."}],"event.responsible_party":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In their challenge, Thompson and Carlo argued that the use of the technology breaches the right to privacy outlined in the European Convention of Human Rights."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"The UK is the only European country to deploy the technology on a large scale."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In February 2024, he was stopped, detained and questioned by police in London after being matched by the technology with his brother, who, at the time, was on bail for a suspected violent offence."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Last year, more than three million faces walked past the live facial recognition cameras and 12 false alerts were logged, with none leading to an arrest."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Last year, more than three million faces walked past the live facial recognition cameras and 12 false alerts were logged, with none leading to an arrest."}],"event.control_chain":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"If a face does not match anyone on the database, the system deletes the image instantly."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scotland Yard deploys identifiable live facial recognition vans to selected locations around the capital."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The images are instantly compared to a database of wanted criminals or missing people."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"If a face does not match anyone on the database, the system deletes the image instantly."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"If it finds a possible match, it alerts officers who then double-check the hit before deciding whether to stop the individual."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In February 2024, he was stopped, detained and questioned by police in London after being matched by the technology with his brother, who, at the time, was on bail for a suspected violent offence."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"A MAN falsely identified as a suspect by London police's live facial recognition cameras lost a legal action on Tuesday (21) over its adoption, in a setback for opponents of the technology."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"But the High Court in London sided with the Metropolitan Police, concluding it had \"adequate safeguards against abuse\" and was not breaching human rights legislation."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Shaun Thompson has said he intends to appeal the decision."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"According to the Met Police, 2,100 arrests have been made since the start of 2024 using the technology."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources describe a court ruling on police use of live facial recognition, not an AI agent failure. No model, developer, vendor, harness, tools, autonomy level or safeguard state is stated, so those fields are omitted. agent_involved=false, incident_class=other, responsible_party=deployer and harm_class=privacy are my judgments from the sources. The Thompson misidentification year conflicts: EasternEye says 2023, while BBC and The Record say February 2024; the 2024 date is used. The control B1 outcome 'failed' is my judgment because the sources state that officers double-checked alerts but do not say how the review failed; H1 'held' is the deletion of non-matching images. Severity 'moderate' is my judgment based on scanning of more than three million passers-by with a stated count. The ruling date 2026-04-21 comes from the EasternEye text; no date_disclosed is given. The sources state no remediations, no loss figures, no record counts and no reversibility. Thompson's planned appeal is unresolved. Claims by the Met and the government are presented as their statements and were not verified. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":"Policing","org_size_band":null,"country":"GB","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"The Home Office said it wanted law enforcement to use facial recognition at significantly greater scale.","quote":"In December, the British Home Office said it wanted law enforcement to use facial recognition at \"significantly greater scale.\"","source_index":2,"when":"December"},{"text":"The Home Office set out plans to increase the number of vans from 10 to 50 and make them available to all forces across England and Wales.","quote":"Plans set out by the Home Office in January will increase the number of vans from 10 to 50 and make them available to all forces across England and Wales.","source_index":0,"when":"January"},{"text":"Shaun Thompson said he intends to appeal the decision.","quote":"Shaun Thompson has said he intends to appeal the decision.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq59x4vv954o","https://www.easterneye.biz/london-police-win-court-battle-over-live-facial-recognition/","https://therecord.media/facial-recognition-uk-legal"]}}