StopWatch has joined Big Brother Watch, Liberty, INQUEST, Index on Censorship, NETPOL, Open Rights Group and Privacy International in a call to oppose clauses 95 and 86 of the Crime and Policing Bill:
"As privacy and justice civil society organisations, we are deeply concerned that Clause 95 of the Crime and Policing Bill will allow for the creation of a vast police facial recognition database of driving licences. This is a huge, disproportionate expansion of police surveillance powers that will place the majority of Britons in a digital police line-up without their consent.
The DVLA holds the data of over 55 million driving licences. If passed, Clause 95 could enable these facial images to be subverted into one of the biggest biometric database ever created in the UK for police access.
We are also concerned by powers contained within Clause 86, which prohibit “wearing or otherwise using an item that conceals their identity” at protests. These powers put the public’s ability to protest safely and freely at grave risk, especially given increased police deployment of both live and retrospective facial recognition."
For a full explanation of our position, please download and read our joint briefing.