Corporate report

Biometrics Commissioner: interim report December 2020

The interim report of the Biometrics Commissioner for 2020.

From:
Biometrics Commissioner
Published
10 December 2020

Documents

Commissioner for the retention and use of biometric material: interim report December 2020

PDF, 1.14 MB, 29 pages

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Details

The role of the Biometrics Commissioner was established by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) and Professor Paul Wiles has occupied the role for 4 and a half years. His role is to provide independent oversight of the regime which was established by PoFA, and which came into force on 31 October 2013, to govern the retention and use by the police in England and Wales of DNA samples, DNA profiles and fingerprints.

In addition to various casework responsibilities in relation to DNA and fingerprints, he also has a UK-wide oversight function as regards their retention and use by the police on national security grounds.

This 2020 interim report deals primarily with developments since the publication of the 2019 annual report. It covers issues relating to the PoFA regime in connection with both the normal policing and national security spheres, the implementation of new counter-terrorism legislation affecting the making of National Security Determinations and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the taking and retention of biometrics. The legality of the police deployment of new biometrics also features with particular reference to the use of live automated facial recognition.

Published 10 December 2020