The EU’s data protection agencies on Monday called for an outright ban on using artificial intelligence to identify people in public places, pointing to the “extremely high” risks to privacy.
In a non-binding opinion, the two bodies called for a “general ban” on the practice that would include “recognition of faces, gait, fingerprints, DNA, voice, keystrokes and other biometric or behavioural signals, in any context”.
Such practices “interfere with fundamental rights and freedoms to such an extent that they may call into question the essence of these rights and freedoms,” the heads of the European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor said.
The ban would include any AI that would “categorise individuals into clusters based on ethnicity, gender, political or sexual orientation”, the statement said.
The opinion is intended for the European Commission. The EU’s executive arm unveiled a proposal in April to regulate AI that fell short of an outright ban on using the technology for public identification.
The commission’s plan includes special exceptions for allowing the use of mass facial recognition in cases such as searching for a missing child, averting a terror threat, or tracking down someone suspected of a serious crime.
Brussels hopes its first ever legislative package on AI will help Europe catch up with the US and China in a sector that spans from voice recognition to insurance and law enforcement.
In a statement, the commission said it took note of the opinion, but stood by a proposal “that provides sufficient protection and limits the use of those systems to the strict minimum necessary”.
The proposal is under negotiation at the European Parliament and among the 27 member states. The outcome could set a global standard for how tech is regulated.
Related: EU Privacy Groups Set Sights on Facial Recognition Firm
Related: States Push Back Against Use of Facial Recognition by Police
Related: Facial Recognition Company Sued by California Activists

More from AFP
- France Punishes Clearview AI For Failing To Pay Fine
- Twitter Celebrity Hacker Pleads Guilty in US
- Pro-Russian Hackers Claim Downing of French Senate Website
- Microsoft Expands AI Access to Public
- Hackers Promise AI, Install Malware Instead
- Australian Finance Company Refuses Hackers’ Ransom Demand
- Tesla Sued Over Workers’ Alleged Access to Car Video Imagery
- Secret US Documents on Ukraine War Plan Spill Onto Internet: Report
Latest News
- Adobe Inviting Researchers to Private Bug Bounty Program
- Critical Vulnerabilities Found in Faronics Education Software
- Chrome 114 Released With 18 Security Fixes
- Organizations Warned of Backdoor Feature in Hundreds of Gigabyte Motherboards
- Breaking Enterprise Silos and Improving Protection
- Spyware Found in Google Play Apps With Over 420 Million Downloads
- Millions of WordPress Sites Patched Against Critical Jetpack Vulnerability
- Barracuda Zero-Day Exploited to Deliver Malware for Months Before Discovery
