Police in London have begun rolling out controversial facial recognition technology in a landmark move that has been criticised as a violation of privacy and rights.

The Metropolitan Police said the deployment — from Friday — would help the force tackle “serious crime” and stressed it would not replace “traditional policing”.

It insisted live facial recognition (LFR) technology would be clearly signposted and implemented at specific locations where it believes the most serious offenders would be seen.

“Every day, our police officers are briefed about suspects they should look out for; LFR improves the effectiveness of this tactic,” a statement from the Met’s assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave said.

He added: “Similarly if it can help locate missing children or vulnerable adults swiftly, and keep them from harm and exploitation, then we have a duty to deploy the technology to do this.”

Live facial recognition technology has long been a controversial topic in the UK and in wider Europe.

Earlier this week, leaked EU documents revealed the bloc had been considering a temporary ban on the technology – a move that has been backed by Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet.

It came after years of hotly-contested trials in several member states, whom, like the Met, wanted to test whether such technology could help combat crime.

Read more: euronews