EU to create a unified database for facial-recognition systems

The European Commission plans to create a vast database for facial recognition, to be shared with law enforcement agencies of EU member states.

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The authors of the document note \”great potential\” of the initiative. Many EU countries already store millions of citizens’ photographs: in Hungary 30 million photographs, in Italy 17 million, in France 6 million, in Germany 5.5 million. These images range from suspects to asylum seekers.

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Rights advocates have expressed concerns about the European Commission’s plans.

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\”This is the most extensive biometric surveillance infrastructure that I think we have ever seen in the world,\” said Ella Jakubowska, policy adviser for the non-governmental rights organisation European Digital Rights.

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A EU spokesperson said that countries may exchange only images of faces of suspects or convicted criminals within the framework of Prüm II.

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\”There will be no matching of facial images to the general population,\” he added.

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Over the past 15 years, under the Prüm II framework, European police have exchanged information such as fingerprints and DNA in the course of criminal investigations.

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In April 2021, the European Commission presented a bill regulating the use of AI in the EU.

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The new rules prohibit law enforcement agencies from using facial recognition—except in cases of \”serious crimes,\” which, according to the Commission, could include terrorism-related cases.

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In the same month the European Data Protection Supervisor called for banning the technology without any exemptions because of its \”deep and undemocratic intrusion\” into people’s private lives.

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In June, a group of 55 human-rights organisations criticised the bill.

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