Police in England and Wales do have the powers to compel someone to remove a disguise, but only under specific circumstances under Section 60AA of the Criminal

Police in England and Wales do have the powers to compel someone to remove a disguise, but only under specific circumstances under Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. It is not clear that in these circumstances they had the power to do so, although there is nothing stopping them from simply asking someone to remove a mask. This man was fined for a separate offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, due to his decision to swear at a police officer. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60AA https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60AA https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/5 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/5 It is worth noting that this trial is being conducted in the vicinity of the Westfield centre in Stratford, which has seen a number of serious violent incidents in recent years. It lies in something of a no-mans-land between the territories of various local gangs, creating a natural point of friction. There have been at least two incidents where a gang fight caused mass panic, one of which involved an acid attack. I am opposed to facial recognition technology on principle, but this seems like the most justifiable use-case; unless something is done, there's a very real risk of a mass casualty incident in the near future.