European Parliament Pushes for Facial Recognition Ban in Law Enforcement
The European Parliament votes to ban facial recognition technology in public spaces for law enforcement, citing significant privacy and bias risks. The non-legislative resolution now requires a response from the European Commission regarding future legislative action.
The European Parliament votes in favor of a resolution that bans the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement in public spaces. This resolution is part of a broader non-legislative report from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs that examines how police and judicial authorities use artificial intelligence in criminal matters.
While the report acknowledges that artificial intelligence helps law enforcement combat crimes like money laundering and cybercrime more efficiently, it highlights serious risks. Lawmakers express deep concern over opaque decision-making, algorithmic bias, and severe intrusions into private life that threaten human dignity and freedom of expression.
To address these dangers, the resolution calls for a complete ban on facial recognition in law enforcement until the technology proves unbiased and fully compliant with fundamental rights. It also permanently prohibits the automated analysis of other human features like gait, fingerprints, DNA, and voice, and the European Commission now has three months to respond to these recommendations.