Research and analysis

Public sector use of biometric voice recognition technology: ethical issues

Briefing note on the ethical issues arising from the public sector use of biometric voice recognition technology.

• From: Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group
• Published: 9 September 2025

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Briefing note on the ethical issues arising from the public sector use of biometric voice recognition technology (accessible)

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Briefing note on the ethical issues arising from the public sector use of biometric voice recognition technology

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Details

The Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group (BFEG) has undertaken a scoping exercise examining the technical, ethical, and legal use of biometric voice recognition technology by the public sector.

Throughout this process, BFEG has gathered evidence and insight from relevant stakeholders across the public sector, academia, and civil society, with expertise covering the technical, ethical, legal, and governance challenges of this technology.

This briefing note summarises the findings, with a focus on possible use-cases of voice recognition technology, including by law enforcement in a surveillance context, and by government user services teams as a means of logging in to a secure portal.

Published 9 September 2025