HOLYROOD is being urged to recommend a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology - especially by the police.

Academics raised concerns about "deficiencies" in such new technology, and also claimed it was "intrusive".

In submissions to MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's Justice Sub-Committee on Policing, they argued for a moratorium to be put in place.

In its submission, Police Scotland was clear the force has "no current plans to introduce live facial recognition software or any other new biometric technology".

But Dr Angela Daly, from Strathclyde Law School, urged the committee to "become an international leader in ethical technology policy by recommending a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology in Scotland, especially by police forces".

Daly made the recommendations due to the "deficiencies of facial recognition technology, the intrusive ways in which [it] is already being used to monitor indiscriminately the general public - and not only those suspected of a crime - and the less-than ethical conditions in which facial recognition technology is being researched and developed".

Dr Daly stated: "I urge the committee to consider deeply the impact on the privacy and other human rights of the general public in being subjected to invasive mass-monitoring by facial recognition technology used by police."

Dr Garfield Benjamin from Solent University in Southampton also argued for a moratorium, and said: "This should ideally be permanent, or at least until significant regulatory frameworks have been put in place.

"When a member of the public enters a space monitored by facial recognition, they are automatically placed in a police line-up.

"This fundamentally changes the role and power of the police, from one in which evidence is a case must be built to prove guilt into one in which everyone is assumed guilty all the time.

"Should Police Scotland (or, indeed, any police force) go ahead with the use of facial recognition then they are making an active choice to shift policing into a state of constant surveillance, forcing citizens to live beneath a constant machinic gaze."

Gillian MacDonald, Assistant Chief Constable for Police Scotland said: "Fundamentally, opportunities exist to use new technologies, such as facial recognition, to enhance police and law enforcement capabilities".

She added that the force already has the capability to carry out retrospective facial matching using the Police National Database, but confirmed there were "no current plans" to introduce live software or "other new biometric technology".

Meanwhile sub-committee convener John Finnie said MSPs would "closely study" all the submissions they had received.

He said "While the police service need to be able to fight crime effectively, any intrusion into citizens' privacy must be proportionate. We look forward to beginning our inquiry."