Devon and Cornwall Police have announced they will be using a Live Facial Recognition (LFR) van in Newquay this week. The technology will be used between 6th-8th August, dates which overlap with annual Boardmasters Festival. The Police Force has stated the van will only be active in areas in Newquay town, not the festival site at Watergate Bay.

Live Facial Recognition identifies people in real-time, using AI-powered surveillance to compare a live CCTV feed against a watchlist. The match is then considered by officers who will decide whether it is accurate enough to apprehend the target. Everyone who passes in front of the camera will have their face scanned and their biometric data processed by AI.

According to Devon and Cornwall Police, any images captured of people not on the predetermined watch-list will be “instantly and permanently deleted within seconds”. All UK police forces are legally required to provide notice of an area in which LFR is being used.

Speaking to The Independent, Chief Inspector Peter Shabytah, the officer leading the LFR operation in Newquay, said that success from using the kit would be measured on the number of people arrested for serious offences, and also the providing of a visible presence that could deter antisocial behaviour, with the event historically bringing a spike in crime in the area. Last year, 6 people were arrested at the festival. This is a decrease from 11 arrests in 2024.

Members of the public are not prohibited from using face coverings in areas using Live Facial Recognition. Police may ask why you have decided to do this, but unless the force impose a Section 60 AA of the Public Order Act, officers cannot obligate you to remove a face mask. Officers also cannot force any pedestrian to walk through the camera’s field of vision.

This is the first time that LFR has been used by Devon and Cornwall Police. The technology has been used operationally by the Metropolitan Police since 2020, with trials starting in 2016, and every force in the country using some form of Facial Recognition Technology. Many private companies also use LFR, including Asda, Gatwick Airport, and Home Bargains.

Live Facial Recognition has been criticised by several campaign groups. In response to the Met Police usage of LFR at a protest for the first time in May 2026, Big Brother Watch’s senior legal and policy officer Jasleen Chaggar stated:

“We are at risk of becoming a nation of suspects, tracked from the moment we leave our front door, with profound consequences for our rights to privacy, free speech and freedom of association.”

The campaign group also state that the technology is discriminatory, with research showing that facial recognition discriminates against women and people of colour, with more inaccurate matches. 80% of people misidentified by facial recognition in London in 2025 were Black.

Members of the public have also challenged police use of the technology. In 2020, Cardiff resident Ed Bridges took South Wales Police to court, arguing that the force was breaching rights to privacy, data protection laws, and equality laws. The legal challenge was successful and the courts declared that South Wales Police had to halt their long-running trial of the technology.

Image via: Cobblestone Media.