London's Met Police is expanding its use of facial recognition technology

The UK's biggest police force is set to significantly expand its facial recognition capabilities before the end of this year. New technology will enable London's Metropolitan Police to process historic images from CCTV feeds, social media and other sources in a bid to track down suspects. But critics warn the technology has "eye-watering possibilities for abuse" and may entrench discriminatory policing. In a little-publicised decision made at the end of August, the Mayor of London's office approved a proposal allowing the Met to boost its surveillance technology. The proposal says that in the coming months the Met will start using Retrospective Facial Recognition (RFR), as part of a £3 million, four-year deal with Japanese tech firm NEC Corporation.