Police in South Wales and London have said they will continue to use live facial recognition (LFR) to catch criminals after an independent report into the technology claimed it doesn’t discriminate based on gender, age or race.

South Wales Police chief constable Jeremy Vaughn said that the results of the investigation have “reaffirmed” the force’s commitment to use the technology in public.

But human rights group Liberty hit back at the decision on Twitter, saying that more accurate facial recognition is “not a good thing”.

“Higher accuracy just makes it easier for police to identify, track and monitor you," wrote the non-profit in a Tweet on Thursday.

It continued: "And history shows that surveillance tech will always be targeted at communities of colour."

In recent years, ethical concerns and unclear governance around the use of second-generation biometrics by police has driven backlash from activists, human rights groups, and even the British legal system.

The report comes after South Wales Police faced legal action in 2020 for its use of automatic facial recognition in a public space. The court found that there hadn’t been clear guidance on where the technology could be used and who could be on a watchlist.

According to the study, which was carried out by the National Physical Laboratory, it is now "easier to understand" the demographic performance of the technology used by both South Wales police and the Met. It said that the algorithm used by the police forces could be operated where there is “no statistical significance between demographic performance”.

“The study confirms that the way South Wales Police uses the technology does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, age or race and this reinforces my long-standing belief that the use of facial recognition technology is a force for good and will help us keep the public safe and assist us in identifying serious offenders in order to protect our communities from individuals who pose significant risks," continued chief constable Vaugh, who is also the national policing lead on biometrics.

However, the campaigns manager at Liberty told the BBC that the expansion of mass surveillance tools has "no place on the streets of a rights respecting democracy".

"Our ability to express ideas, communicate with others and engage in democratic processes will be undermined by technology such as facial recognition," warned Liberty's Emmanuelle Andrews.

Lindsey Chiswick, director of intelligence for the Metropolitan Police, said that facial recognition can be used by the police to focus in its approach to tackling crime, including robbery and violence against women and girls.

“We understand the concerns raised by some groups and individuals about emerging technology and the potential for bias," said Chiswick. "We have listened to these voices. This research means we better understand the performance of our algorithm. We understand how we can operate to ensure the performance across race and gender is equal.”

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