The Home Office added a data protection impact assessment for live facial recognition to its Immigration Enforcement collection on 22 October 2026; the page describes how Immigration Enforcement uses the technology.
The Home Office has added a link to "Live facial recognition technology: data protection impact assessment" to its collection page, "Live facial recognition in Immigration Enforcement". The addition was made on 22 October 2026.
The collection page says Immigration Enforcement uses live facial recognition (LFR) "to identify and locate people they are looking for as part of their law enforcement duties". It says the page provides information about how LFR supports the operational duties of Immigration Enforcement.
The page describes facial recognition as technology that can compare a human face in a digital image with a watchlist of faces. It describes LFR as a form of this technology that compares a live camera feed of faces against a predetermined watchlist in real time.
According to the page, LFR is used to locate and identify people who are of interest. It does this by generating an alert when a possible match is found.
The collection directs readers to further documents for more information on LFR. The new data protection impact assessment is the latest of these. The collection page itself does not set out the contents of the assessment, and this item does not summarise it.
The collection page does not announce a change to immigration rules, guidance, fees or application processes, and it does not give a date from which any new operational practice applies.
What this means for applicants
The page does not set out any new requirement for visa applicants, sponsors, employers or landlords. It does not say where or when Immigration Enforcement uses LFR. Anyone who wants to read how the technology is assessed for enforcement use can read the assessment through the collection page.
Sources
- Live facial recognition in Immigration Enforcement, GOV.UK, Home Office