FOI release

FOI Request - Surveillance and Facial Recognition

Case reference FOI2026/00343

Received 2 April 2026

Published 16 April 2026

Request

I am writing to request the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, relating to the council's CCTV infrastructure and any use of artificial intelligence or facial recognition technology. Please provide, for the period 1 January 2023 to the date of this request: 1. Any Cabinet or committee reports concerning the procurement, deployment, or proposed deployment of AI-assisted CCTV cameras or facial recognition technology (live or retrospective) in public spaces. 2. Any Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) completed or in progress in relation to facial recognition technology or AI-assisted surveillance systems. 3. Any agreements, memoranda of understanding, or data-sharing arrangements between the council and police forces relating to facial recognition technology or CCTV footage. If the council has not deployed or considered deploying such technology, a brief confirmation of this would be appreciated. If any part of this request falls outside the scope of FOI, please advise which exemptions apply and respond to the remainder. Should the council consider that complying with this request would exceed the appropriate cost limit under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I ask that rather than refusing the request outright, the council contacts me to discuss how the request might be refined or prioritised to bring it within the limit. I would also ask that the council provides an explanation of which elements of the request it considers would exceed the limit, and why. Where the council considers applying any exemption to withhold information, I ask that it gives full consideration to the public interest in disclosure. The deployment of facial recognition technology and AI-assisted surveillance in public spaces is a matter of significant and legitimate public concern, engaging issues of civil liberties, algorithmic bias, data protection, and the proportionate use of state power. In my view, the public interest in transparency about how councils are using or planning to use such technologies, and on what legal and ethical basis, strongly favours disclosure. I would be grateful for a response within the statutory 20 working days.

Response

We do not use AI driven CCTV cameras, nor is there any usage of facial recognition systems by ourselves, or in conjunction with any partner agencies.

 

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Oxford City Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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