EU moving against facial recognition

Bloc's executive body mulls ban on the technology in response to rights concerns

Europe may halt the use of facial recognition technology over fears it might infringe on human rights.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, says in a leaked 18-page draft white paper that it is concerned about the misuse of the technology, which is used to scan closed-circuit television images in real time in order to see if people are on watch lists compiled by the police and other agencies.

The technology is often used in public areas, including train stations, stadiums and shopping centers.

Brussels is mulling a ban of between three and five years, to give it time to study the issue and to draw up legislation.

An unnamed European Commission spokesman told the Telegraph newspaper: "Technology has to serve a purpose and the people. Trust and security will therefore be at the center of the EU's strategy."

The commission may also look at additional oversight of artificial intelligence.

The Guardian newspaper notes that the EU's general data protection regulations guarantee EU citizens the right "not to be subject of a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling".

The BBC reports that a ban could leave room for exemptions, to allow the technology's continued use for research and development, and for specific security projects.

The leaked white paper says the commission wants to find a "sound methodology for assessing the impacts of this technology" and adds "possible risk management measures" could also be "identified and developed".

The paper says the EU may need to create an authority to oversee any new rules.

The use of live facial recognition technology has become a hot topic in the United Kingdom, where campaign groups and some politicians want it permanently banned.

The issue came to the fore when the developer of 27 hectares around London's King's Cross train station was named in the press for using the technology without informing the public.

That system was turned off in September, after outraged campaigners said the scanning of people in order to proactively check up on them infringed on their right to privacy.

Pressure group Big Brother Watch told MailOnline: "Using facial recognition cameras is the high-tech equivalent of forcing members of the public to give their fingerprints to a private company we don't even know the name of."

The group says the technology is not foolproof, and innocent people could be misidentified, something that recent academic research noted was likely after the software was found to be weak in identifying black and Asian faces.

But experts say the technology can identify terrorists and those wanted by the police, and that it will ultimately be more effective than fingerprints for identifying people.

The European Commission's draft white paper was first obtained by the news website Euractiv, an independent pan-European media network.

A final version of the document is expected in February, ahead of a vote by the European Parliament on the issue. Any decision by the Parliament would need to be approved by the bloc's member nations.

The UK, Germany, and France have shown interest in ramping up their use of the technology, suggesting the issue may not be easily resolved.