The recognition of faces should be banned in Europe because of their “deep and non-democratic interference” in people’s private lives, said the EU data protection supervisor, the European data protection supervisor (EDPS) on Friday.
The comments come two days after the European Commission proposed a draft regulation that would allow facial recognition to be used to search for missing children or criminals and in terrorist attacks.
The draft regulations that need to be worked out with EU countries and the European Parliament are an attempt by the Commission to set global rules for artificial intelligence, a technology dominated by China and the United States.
The Data Protection Supervisor regretted that the Commission had failed to heed its previous call to ban facial recognition in public spaces.
“A stricter approach is needed because remote biometric identification, where AI can contribute to unprecedented developments, carries an extremely high risk of profound and nondemocratic encroachment on people’s private lives,” it said in a statement.
“In particular, the EDPS will focus on setting precise boundaries for those tools and systems that may pose risks to fundamental rights to data protection and privacy.”
The Commission’s proposals have been criticized by civil rights groups who worry about loopholes that could allow authoritarian governments to misuse AI to curtail people’s rights.
