EU to ban use of AI biometric surveillance by police without judicial authorisation: Report

The European Union as a part of its historic agreement between the European Parliament and 27 member states will soon ban police and national security bodies in the EU from using real-time biometric data driven by artificial intelligence (AI) in most situations without judicial authorisation, reported The Guardian citing an official with knowledge of the text.

The landmark deal was signed following three days of negotiations, on Friday (Dec 8), but the officials, as per the British media report only revealed the operational details on Monday (Dec 11) since the final text is yet to be published.

Possible ban onAI biometric surveillance

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The ban on surveillance will apply to public and private places, including parks and sports grounds, but in the event of specified serious crimes, a terrorist threat or urgent searches for victims will be exempted, reported The Guardian. However, the police will require prior approval from a judge or independent administrative authority.

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According to the report, it is only under most exceptional circumstances like a live terrorist threat that the police will be able to deploy the AI biometric tools without prior approval.

But they must still obtain authorisation within 24 hours and notify the authorities – including the relevant market surveillance authority and the data protection authority – with a “prior fundamental rights impact assessment,” reported The Guardian citing an EU official.

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If approval by a judge or authority is not given, according to the report, the AI tool should be turned off immediately and all data extracted on a suspect or suspects deleted immediately. The EU and members of the European Parliament (MEP) have reportedly agreed on a specific list of 16 types of serious crimes which may be exempted from the ban.

Averting ‘predictive policing’

EU officials believe that these safeguards would avert the risk of what they have called “predictive policing” which according to the MEPs if used alongside racial profiling could discriminate against individuals.

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Notably, the use of AI in biometric surveillance had pitted policymakers who wanted to use it for national security, defence and military purposes against EU lawmakers who wanted to bar those uses because of concerns related to privacy.

The agreement signed last week has made the EU the first continent in the world to set clear rules for the use of AI.

(With inputs from agencies)