Facewatch

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Page published: January 2023 | Last updated: September 2025

Facewatch is a system that provides real-time facial recognition analysis and biometric watchlists to shops, pubs and other public venues, and to the police.

Provided by a UK-based company of the same name, the system is intended to identify shoplifters from a database of actual and suspected criminals, and to ensure the safety of its customers and employees.

Employees are alerted when a person "reasonably suspected of involvement in crime" enters one of their stores.

The company describes itself as "the ONLY shared national facial recognition database."

Facial recognition system

A facial recognition system is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces.

Source: Wikipedia 🔗

System 🤖

Website: Facewatch 🔗
Developer: Facewatch
Purpose: Identify criminal suspects
Type: Facial recognition
Technique: Computer vision; Machine learning

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Transparency, accountability 🙈

Facewatch has been criticised for several transparency and accountability limitations:

Accuracy. Facewatch does not provide detailed information on the accuracy of its facial recognition system, making it difficult to assess its reliability.
Data sharing. It is unclear who Facewatch shares its facial recognition data with, and under what circumstances.
Data retention. It is unclear how long Facewatch retains facial recognition data, and under what circumstances it is deleted.
Independent oversight. There is no independent body to oversee Facewatch's use of facial recognition, leaving it to self-regulate.
Audits and assessments. Facewatch does not provide information on whether it conducts regular audits of its facial recognition system to ensure it is working correctly and fairly.
Error accountability. Facewatch's facial recognition system is not transparent about who is accountable for errors or mistakes made by the system.
Complaints and appeals. There is no clear process for individuals to challenge incorrect matches or errors made by the system.

Risks, harms 🛑

The use of Facewatch's facial recognition system has sparked concerns about data rights and privacy, the increasing use of surveillance technology in the private sector, and other risks and harms.

Muman rights and civil liberties. Facewatch has wrongly flagged innocent individuals as suspects or criminals due to errors in matching faces, leading to wrongful accusations and bans from retailers and public spaces.
Emotional and psychological damage. People falsely accused often experience anxiety and face public humiliation and reputational damage. They may be banned from shops without clear explanations or means to clear their names, affecting daily life and social inclusion.
Mass surveillance. Use of facial recognition by Facewatch customers risks normalising pervasive surveillance, potentially eroding individual freedoms and enabling private-sector enforcement roles traditionally reserved for police or judicial systems.
Data privacy. Facewatch collects and shares biometric data, including facial images, without explicit consent, widely distributing sensitive personal information across retailers within large geographic areas, raising serious data protection and privacy issues.
Discrimination. Like many facial recognition systems, Facewatch may be less accurate with certain populations, such as people of colour and women, increasing risks of bias and discrimination.

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