A few months ago, I found myself sitting in the High Court watching youth worker Shaun Thompson and Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, challenge whether the Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology was lawful.

The case focused in particular on how and where the technology is deployed. As barristers debated surveillance, public safety and policing powers, I kept returning to the same question: what does all of this mean for Black communities already living with the realities of over-policing?

Whenever conversations about AI-driven surveillance come up, they are often framed through fears of an Orwellian dystopia, or broad references to “citizens” and “the public” being watched. But this kind of technology does not affect all communities equally. When it comes to facial recognition technology (FRT), Black women are among those most vulnerable to harm.