Revealed: Home Office secretly lobbied for facial recognition ‘spy’ company

Officials reflected policing minister's enthusiasm to roll out controversial technology across the country, particularly in retail settings

Senior officials at the Home Office secretly lobbied the UK's independent privacy regulator to act favourably" towards a private firm keen to roll out controversial facial recognition technology across the country, according to internal government emails seen by the Observer.

Correspondence reveals that the Home Office wrote to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) warning that policing minister, Chris Philp, would write to your commissioner" if the regulator's investigation into Facewatch - whose facial recognition cameras have provoked huge opposition after being installed in shops - was not positive towards the firm.