The Metropolitan Police are planning to use live facial recognition cameras on London’s Oxford Street, with Mayor Sadiq Khan indicating the newly pedestrianised shopping street will be included. The move would make it one of the first UK locations with permanent infrastructure scanning passers-by against police watchlists, raising concerns about routine public surveillance and civil liberties.

The fixed cameras could be attached to street furniture and form part of wider deployments in the West End, Soho and Tube stations, initially aimed at tackling crime and violence. Liberty and Big Brother Watch have called for transparency, safeguards and a legal framework before expansion, citing concerns over privacy and possible racial bias; a Liberty-commissioned poll found 48% opposed high-street facial scanning without an imminent threat.