Early reactions to a report that the UK’s police minister wants people in a permanent biometric crime lineup are not overly positive.

It is being called “Orwellian” in the opinion outlet The European Conservative, for example.

Minister Chris Philp has said he wants, within two years, infrastructure and software in place that enables police to compare CCTV images against the nation’s passport and immigration photo databases.

Philp has said there are no legal restrictions stopping the plan. The College of Policing, a professional organization, reportedly has said English and Welsh forces will be told to consider any useful data source to solve thefts and other crimes.

Others in the government say this might be the wrong step in deploying facial recognition software that is trusted by people.

Speaking to the BBC, Fraser Sampson, commissioner for the retention and use of biometric material, said it would be unfortunate for passport holders to feel like they were in a never-ending police lineup.

“If the state routinely runs every photograph against every picture of every suspected incident of crime simply because it can, there is a significant risk of disproportionality and of damaging public trust,” Sampson reportedly told the BBC.

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