Plans by Police Scotland to introduce live surveillance cameras for scanning faces have been criticized as “deeply intrusive” and dangerous by a coalition of international privacy groups.

The cameras are intended to help catch shoplifters and people violating bail conditions, with images monitored from police vans and checked against a database.

Privacy advocates, including Big Brother Watch, Liberty, Privacy International, and others, have urged Justice Secretary Angela Constance to withdraw the proposal, the Daily Mail has reported.

They argue that the technology undermines civil liberties by treating everyone as a potential criminal and could set a dangerous precedent similar to practices in authoritarian regimes like Russia and China.

Written by B.C. Begley