BlueLight commercial has set up a multi-supplier procurement framework for live facial recognition (LFR) software.
The national procurement body for emergency services has named three companies in the award notice – NEC Software Solutions, Digital Barriers Services and Bedroq – and estimated the value of the framework at up to £20 million. The duration is not stated.
The award is a significant step in supporting the wider use of LFR by UK police forces.
It has been a controversial subject, with a former biometrics commissioner and a House of Lords committee having expressed concerns about how the technology can be used; but for several years the Home Office has supported trials, the Metropolitan Police has claimed successes from its use and recently begun a new pilot implementation.
LFR compares a live camera feed, or multiple feeds, of faces against predetermined watchlists to locate persons of interest by generating an alert when a possible match is found.
