Your face is not new to me – Regulating the surveillance power of facial recognition technologies

Facial recognition technologies (FRTs) represent one of the cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence and big data for surveillance purposes. The uses of these biometric technologies are widespread in our cities. However, they may result in serious abuses against the rights of people and minorities, or even in new kinds of mass surveillance. The article focuses on “real-time” and “live” use by law enforcement authorities, one of the most discussed deployments of FRTs. The analysis addresses, from a constitutional point of view, whether banning these technologies is inevitable, or whether it is possible to regulate them in a way that allows their use while protecting the fundamental rights at stake and preserving democratic order and the rule of law. The principle of proportionality is the standard for defining appropriate regulatory measures. The article starts off by providing an overview of how FRTs work and some of the consequent ethical, technical, societal and legal concerns that arise. It then provides a critical analysis of EU data protection legislation and the AI Act proposal to examine their strengths and shortcomings in addressing the proportionate use of FRTs.