Legitimising Privacy Breach: A Critical-Cognitive Analysis of the UK Government’s Narrative on LFR Technology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol22.Iss2.1651Keywords:
Critical-Cognitive Discourse Analysis, LFR Technology, Cognitive StrategiesAbstract
This study presents an exploratory, critical-cognitive analysis of selected UK governmental texts on live facial recognition technology. It aims to fill a gap in the literature regarding the types of cognitive strategies used in the government’s surveillance discourse to legitimise the mentioned technology and manipulate the public. To achieve its purpose, the study analyses three articles produced by official UK government institutions. It adopts van Dijk’s Ideological Square (1998) for the macroanalysis and Lakoff’s Idealised Cognitive Models (1987) for the microanalysis. It follows a qualitative analysis, with a limited quantitative analysis of the cognitive strategy frequency counts. The study finds that image schemas, metaphors, and metonymies are the most widely used cognitive strategies in the UK government’s discourse in the selected corpus. The findings highlight the importance of reinforcing the critical awareness of how language is used to legitimise surveillance, enabling the public, the media, and decision-makers to deal more consciously with government discourse in this context.
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Websites of Analysed Articles
Greater Manchester Police. (2025, October 17). Greater Manchester Police to deploy live facial recognition technology to keep communities safe. Greater Manchester Police to deploy Live Facial recognition technology to keep communities safe | Greater Manchester Police
Home Office. (2025, August 13). Live facial recognition technology to catch high-harm offenders. GOV.UK. Live Facial Recognition technology to catch high-harm offenders - GOV.UK
Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner. (2025, December 29). Thames Valley Police launches live facial recognition technology. Thames Valley Police launches Live Facial Recognition technology - Thames Valley PCC
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mohammed Kareem Owaid , Omar A. W. Atatfa
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