BSCC-FOI-1025-HD: use of surveillance cameras or biometric systems for small boats
Updated 27 August 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/biometrics-and-surveillance-camera-commissioner-foi-responses-2025/bscc-foi-1025-hd-use-of-surveillance-cameras-or-biometric-systems-for-small-boats
Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
22 August 2025
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/biometrics-and-surveillance-camera-commissioner
To: [redacted]
Ref: BSCC-FOI-1025-HD
Letter by email
Dear [redacted]
I write in response to an email received by our office on Friday 8th August 2025 in which you asked for:
“1. Copies of any reports, reviews, or assessments prepared by the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner concerning the use of surveillance cameras or biometric systems in small boat Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the English Channel, including but not limited to Maritime Sentry Towers and drone/UAV/UAS surveillance, from January 2022 to the present.
2. Any guidance, advice, or correspondence issued by the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner to the Home Office or other relevant public bodies regarding surveillance technology deployments with data protection or privacy implications in maritime or small boat contexts during the same period.
3. Any risk assessments, compliance audits, or evaluations authored by the Commissioner that reference small boat or maritime surveillance systems, from January 2022 to the present.”
Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
While the government has recently appointed an interim Biometrics Commissioner and is actively recruiting a permanent Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner through open competition, only the Surveillance Camera Commissioner is a relevant public authority under the Act. Therefore, this response has been provided by the Office, rather than the Biometrics Commissioner.
Following a thorough search of our records, we can confirm that the OBSCC does not hold any information relevant to your request.
If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address below, quoting reference BSCC-FOI-1025-HD. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
[redacted]
5th Floor
2 Ruskin Square
Broad Green
Croydon
CR0 2WF
e-mail: Sciencesupportfoi@homeoffice.gov.uk
As part of any internal review, our handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.
Kind regards
Office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Email: enquiries@obscc.org.uk