AI, Facial Recognition, and Policing: Business Opportunities and Legal Challenges: A UK Analysis with Glimpses of EU Law

It is a well-known fact that the health emergency caused an unprecedented surge in both information technology (IT) and digitalization. Not only did the virus spread, but technological advancement was also taking place: tracking ill people allowed for a semblance of normal social life to continue, despite the pandemic lockdown. One of the main consequences of the pandemic was the implementation of a large-scale video-surveillance system. This article examines, from a legal perspective, the relationship between video-surveillance activity and citizens’ rights, and attempts to balance the two sides of the same coin through a comparative analysis. To this end, reference is made to the UK case law and the controversy resolved by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Finally, an empirical approach on this matter is provided by the recent guidelines adopted by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act).