Police in England and Wales are ramping up their use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, scanning millions of faces this year alone. Authorities predict these cameras could soon become "commonplace," raising questions about whether they're a crucial crime-fighting tool or a privacy nightmare waiting to happen.

Editor’s Note: This isn't just about catching criminals—it's about how much surveillance we're willing to accept in public spaces. With 4.7 million faces scanned in 2024, the debate is heating up: Is this tech making us safer, or is it normalizing a level of monitoring that could erode personal freedoms? Either way, it’s a shift that could redefine privacy in the UK.