EU calls for five year ban on facial recognition
A leaked draft of a white paper has revealed that the European Commission is considering a temporary ban on the use of facial recognition technologies in public areas for up to five years.
A temporary ban would give regulators the time they need to figure out how to prevent facial recognition from being abused by both governments and businesses. However, exceptions to the ban could be made for security projects as well as for research and development.
The European Commission laid out its plans in a draft of an 18-page white paper, obtained by EURACTIV, though the completed version is slated to be published in February. The white paper proposes imposing obligations on both the developers and users of facial recognition while also calling on EU countries to create an authority to monitor the new rules surrounding this controversial technology.