2024-02-15 14:46:45
WORLD – The new Prüm II regulation has been approved by the European Parliament and paves the way for the use of facial recognition to investigate crimes.
On Thursday February 8, the European Parliament approved by 451 votes to 94 (10 abstentions), the Prüm II regulation on the use of data (fingerprints, DNA files and facial images) to which the police of the different countries of the Union, just like Europol, can have access.
The EU initially rejected this use of the technology, which involves the creation of one of the most extensive biometric surveillance infrastructures in the world and which, according to organizations such as EDRi (European Digital Rights), seriously undermines endangers the privacy of citizens.
Still the pretext for this good old fight against terrorism
Using Prüm II, law enforcement can compare still images from CCTV cameras, social media photos or phone photos. Long live facial recognition under the pretext of the fight against terrorism!
Europe therefore allows authority databases to operate between countries. Biometric data which can therefore be exchanged through a central system connected to national systems. In other words, an investigation could rely on a vast database containing the faces of millions of European citizens.
According to Ella Jakubowska of EDRi, “this project represents the establishment of the largest biometric surveillance infrastructure ever designed.” In other words: Prüm II seriously endangers the private lives of citizens.
If, until now, the police compared DNA samples or fingerprints, they will now also be able to compare faces. However, “there is no guarantee that the profiles returned correspond,” explains EDRi. Indeed, facial recognition returns faces that have a high probability of matching. In this list, the one with the highest percentage may therefore correspond to a wanted person. Or not.
What protections for the citizen?
One of the first criticisms of the Prüm II program was that it did not add sufficient protections to minimize the use of faces, nor did it limit the data shared based on severity of the crime. This opened the door to the possibility of a country requesting information on the faces of many people for minor crimes.
In the final decision of the European Parliament, the request for information must concern crimes punishable by a prison sentence of at least one year, the legislation must expressly mention the protection of fundamental rights and the proportionate exchange of information …
Another criticism of Prüm II: the fact that it will allow the authorities of one country to request information from the police of another country, without the obligation to connect to the systems of other States.
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