20210130 Biometrische Gesichtsdatenbank für EU in Planung

EU Police Are Planning a Pan-European Network of Facial Recognition Databases

Just a few weeks ago, we reported on a European initiative to "ban biometric mass surveillance." The urgency of supporting this initiative is shown by a report from The Intercept on the Austrian proposal to link the EU's facial recognition databases and, once centralized EU biometric face recognition databases have been established, to link them with those of the U.S. as well.

We have already reported several times on the dangers of storing biometric data, be it fingerprints, iris scans or faces, within the campaigns against "Intelligent Video Surveillance", e.g. the EU project INDECT and the facial recognition pilot at Berlin's Südkreuz train station.

The Intercepts reports:

According to leaked internal European Union documents, the EU could soon be creating a network of national police facial recognition databases. A report drawn up by the national police forces of 10 EU member states, led by Austria, calls for the introduction of EU legislation to introduce and interconnect such databases in every member state.

The report was produced as part of discussions on expanding the Prüm system, an EU-wide initiative connecting DNA, fingerprint, and vehicle registration databases for mutual searching. A similar system exists between the U.S. and any country that is part of the Visa Waiver Program, which includes the majority of EU countries; bilateral agreements allow U.S. and European agencies to access one another’s fingerprint and DNA databases.

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