Bonn, 5 June 2024
Press release 6/2024
Berlin Group adopts working paper on facial recognition technology
The International Working Group on Data Protection in Technology (IWGDPT), the so-called "Berlin Group", chaired by the BfDI, has adopted a working paper on facial recognition technology. The paper describes possibilities for use in the private and public sectors and presents both risks and practical recommendations for data protection-compliant application.
The BfDI, Professor Ulrich Kelber, emphasizes: Facial recognition technologies are on the rise worldwide, especially in view of the current developments in the field of artificial intelligence. We see this, for example, at airports during passport controls. In order for us to benefit in the end from these technologies, it is important to define their limits and point out the risks. In the Berlin Group's joint working paper, we made it clear that use in public spaces in particular poses high risks for the data subjects’ freedoms and rights. We have also agreed to reject facial recognition technologies that are intended to recognize emotions or even derive character traits from certain biometric properties due to their inaccuracy and the extremely high risk of discrimination.
Facial recognition is a biometric technology that analyses people's facial features and compares them with corresponding databases for identification. In this way, people can not only be recognized in individual cases, but information about their movements, political views, health data and the like can also be linked to them over longer periods of time. In this way, many different personal data can be collected without the data subjects’ knowledge and individual profiles of individuals can be created.
The IWGDPT calls on all stakeholders to be aware that facial recognition technology can also lead to intrusive, arbitrary and unlawful surveillance. It is therefore important to address the risks and find targeted solutions. The practical recommendations from the Berlin Group's working paper show that data protection- and user-friendly use is possible.
In its work, the Berlin Group benefits from its heterogeneous composition with participants from data protection supervisory authorities, government agencies, international organizations and non-governmental organizations as well as from research and science from all regions of the world.
Click here to access the working paper.