Going to watch the football? As you go about your everyday life, it's now likely your face is being digitally stored by everyone from the police to retailers. So is facial recognition keeping you safe or turning us into Big Brother Britain? Facial-recognition technology – biometric software that maps facial features and stores the data as a'faceprint' for later comparison – is rapidly encroaching upon our lives, spreading throughout our streets, stations, shopping centres, supermarkets and stadia. What's more, it is being developed with our tacit approval.

Going to watch the football? As you go about your everyday life, it's now likely your face is being digitally stored by everyone from the police to retailers. So is facial recognition keeping you safe or turning us into Big Brother Britain? Facial-recognition technology – biometric software that maps facial features and stores the data as a'faceprint' for later comparison – is rapidly encroaching upon our lives, spreading throughout our streets, stations, shopping centres, supermarkets and stadia. What's more, it is being developed with our tacit approval.