Islington Councillor Jilani Chowdhury questioned Executive Member for Community Safety, Councillor Angelo Weekes, about the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology in the borough at the Islington Council meeting on 4 December 2025.
Councillor Chowdhury sought assurances that steps were being taken to prevent the Metropolitan Police from deploying LFR in Islington, given the council's known opposition to the technology.
The exchange occurred during the Questions from Members of the Council portion of the meeting, where councillors can raise issues of local concern with members of the executive.
This wasn't the first time that the council has taken a strong stance on gambling-related harm. Councillor Heather Staff, Chair of Licensing, noted that the council's new gambling policy pushes the limit of what is legally possible, with the introduction of new safeguards and risk zone assessments. Councillor Weekes confirmed that they have put in place evidence-less safeguards.
Islington Council has previously voiced concerns about the potential for bias and discrimination in facial recognition technology, as well as its impact on privacy and civil liberties. The council has called for greater transparency and accountability in the use of LFR by law enforcement agencies.
The council's Statement of Principles 2026-2028 outlines the council's approach to regulating premises licensed for gambling activities, having considered local circumstances. The council has used local area profile data and resident feedback to identify gambling vulnerability zones. The local area profile data includes the numbers of young people, those from minority ethnic groups, the unemployed, residents with certain mental health diagnoses, the location of substance misuse treatment centres, food banks, homelessness shelters, educational establishments and payday loan shops. The Statement identifies gambling vulnerability zones in the borough, designed to provide applicants with information about specific risks to be addressed in their operating plans. The council will pay particular attention to the applicants intended approach to promoting the objective of protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling in high risk areas.
