European Parliament Backs Ban on Remote Biometric Surveillance
European Parliament Backs Ban on Biometric Mass Surveillance
The European Parliament has recently approved a resolution supporting a comprehensive prohibition of biometric mass surveillance practices.
Artificial intelligence-driven remote surveillance technologies, including facial recognition, present significant challenges to core rights and liberties, notably privacy.
Protecting Privacy and Human Dignity
To safeguard “privacy and human dignity”, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are urging EU legislators to enact a lasting ban on the automated identification of individuals in public areas.
Monitoring of citizens should be restricted to instances where criminal activity is suspected, according to the resolution.
Banning Databases and Predictive Policing
The parliament is also advocating for a ban on the utilization of privately-held facial recognition databases.
This includes systems like the contentious AI developed by the U.S. company Clearview, which has already seen deployment by certain European police forces.
Furthermore, predictive policing methodologies relying on behavioral data should be outlawed.
Concerns Over Social Scoring
MEPs are seeking to prohibit social scoring systems that attempt to assess citizen trustworthiness based on behavior or personality traits.
In April, the EU’s executive body proposed draft legislation to regulate high-risk applications of artificial intelligence.
This included a ban on social scoring and, in principle, a prohibition on remote biometric surveillance in public spaces.
Calls for Stronger Safeguards
However, concerns were raised by civil society groups, the European Data Protection Board, the European Data Protection Supervisor, and several MEPs that the Commission’s proposal lacked sufficient strength.
The parliament has now clearly indicated its desire for more robust protections for fundamental rights.
Resolution on Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Law
A resolution was adopted with a vote of 377 to 248, supporting the LIBE committee’s report on Artificial Intelligence in criminal law.
This sends a strong message regarding the parliament’s acceptable limits during upcoming negotiations between EU institutions concerning the details of the Artificial Intelligence Act.
Addressing Algorithmic Bias
The resolution specifically addresses algorithmic bias, calling for human oversight and robust legal mechanisms to prevent discrimination by AI systems.
This is particularly crucial in law enforcement and border control contexts.
Human operators should retain final decision-making authority, and individuals monitored by AI systems must have access to redress.
Transparency and Accountability
To ensure fundamental rights are respected when employing AI-based identification systems – which have demonstrated higher misidentification rates among minority ethnic groups, LGBTI individuals, seniors, and women – algorithms should be transparent, traceable, and thoroughly documented.
The use of open-source software by public authorities is also encouraged to enhance transparency.
Discontinuation of iBorderCtrl Project
MEPs have also called for the termination of the EU-funded iBorderCtrl research project, which aims to create a “smart” lie-detector based on facial expression analysis.
Rapporteur’s Statement
Rapporteur Petar Vitanov stated: “Fundamental rights are unconditional.
We are, for the first time, calling for a moratorium on deploying facial recognition systems for law enforcement, as the technology is often ineffective and discriminatory.
We strongly oppose predictive policing based on AI and any biometric data processing leading to mass surveillance.
This is a significant victory for all European citizens.”
Ban on AI in Judicial Decisions
The parliament’s resolution also advocates for a ban on AI assisting in judicial decisions, a controversial area where automation is already being applied.
This aims to prevent the perpetuation and expansion of systemic biases within criminal justice systems.
Positive Response from Fair Trials
Global human rights organization, Fair Trials, has welcomed the vote, describing it as a “landmark result for fundamental rights and non-discrimination in the technological age”.
