The UK government’s Crime and Policing Bill could potentially mean that the driving license database could be used by police as a facial recognition database, human rights group Liberty warns.

This would provide UK police with the biometric data of millions of people in the UK who have never committed a crime or been part of a criminal investigation.

The Bill, introduced to Parliament in February 2025, introduced a range of Home Office-sponsored changes which will extend police powers, especially when it comes to surveillance.

These measures include the prohibition of wearing face coverings at protests, as well as introducing “respect orders” when it comes to anti-social behaviour issues.

Under the new bill, the police would have access to driving license data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). This houses the data of over 52 million driver records.

Currently, the access to this data is yet to be stipulated under the bill, and will be determined by the secretary of state if the bill is adopted.

The secretary of state would need to create a code of practice for how the data should be used, as well as report annually on how the data is being used by police.

Although the bill does not specifically reference facial recognition technology, Liberty, the human rights group, stipulates that the legislation in its current form could enable the use of this technology.

Recommended reading

• ICO Publishes Draft Guidance on Biometric Data Use in the UK
• ICO Issues Guidance on Facial Recognition Technology
• Google Changes AI Policy to Work on Weapons and Surveillance
• UK Police Use of Facial Recognition Found to be ‘Unethical’

This is despite the current Labour government denying that these powers would be use for facial recognition – but this could change with successive governments if the powers exist.

“This would represent a huge step in broadening the use of facial recognition technology away from police databases to everyone with a driving licence,” Liberty warned.

“Every photo on the DVLA database could be accessed by the police and essentially form a digital police line-up. If this is the intention, then the government should be transparent and invite proper scrutiny rather than sneaking through rights-restricting legislation.”

However, the Home Office shot back at these claims, as a spokesperson said that it these claims were not true, Computer Weekly reported.

“These provisions will have no impact on facial recognition,” the Home Office told the news outlet.