EDRI - Biometrics

European Court of Justice: Fingerprints in electronic passport are OK

bogdan — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:59:15 +0000

The European Court of Justice ruled on 17 October 2013 that the inclusion of the fingerprints in the EU electronic passports is lawful.

While the Court acknowledged that taking and storing of fingerprints in passports constitutes an infringement of the rights to respect for private life and the protection of personal data, it ruled that security is more important than privacy and such measures are justified for the purpose of preventing any fraudulent use of passports.

The ruling also claims that the measure of taking fingerprints is not that sensitive, because it "involves no more than the taking of prints of two fingers, which can, moreover, generally be seen by others, so that this is not an operation of an intimate nature."

The decision admits that the electronic pass

ECJ to rule on the biometric passports

bogdan — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:17:55 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: EuGH befasst sich mit biometrischen Reisepässen

The Dutch administrative court asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) whether the EU Regulation obliging member states to store fingerprints in passports and travel documents infringes the right to privacy.

This is a result of four cases in which Dutch applicants had been refused the issuing of their passports because they did not accept to provide their fingerprints.

France: Biometric ID database found unconstitutional

bogdan — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:31:59 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Frankreich: Biometrie-Datenbank verfassungswidrig

The French Constitutional Council found the law proposing the introduction of a new biometric ID for French citizens as unconstitutional.

Britain: Government reneges on DNA privacy promise

bogdan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:15:53 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Britische Regierung bricht ihr Versprechen DNA-Daten zu löschen

In Britain, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government has announced that it will not delete the DNA records of suspects who were arrested but subsequently acquitted or never charged.

CoE refuses to start investigation on biometrics

bogdan — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:05:59 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Europarat lehnt Biometrie-Untersuchung ab

In an answer to the 31 March 2011 petition calling the Council of Europe (CoE) to start an in-depth survey under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the CoE refused to start an investigation on the collection and storage of citizens' biometric data by member states.

In his answer, Secretary General Jagland mainly points to the CoE Resolution 1797, adopted in March 2011.

NGOs ask CoE to investigate government collection of biometrics

bogdan — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:22:26 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Allianz ersucht Europarat um Untersuchung der staatlichen Nutzung biom...

An international alliance of organisations, including EDRi and several EDRi-members, and individuals from 27 countries has lodged a petition calling on the Council of Europe to start an in-depth survey on the collection and storage of biometric data by member states.

European governments are increasingly demanding the storage of biometric data (fingerprints and facial scans) from individuals. These include storage on contactless "RFID" chips in passports and/or ID cards.

Final call for petition on government use of citizens' biometrics

bogdan — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:05:04 +0000

This article is also available in:
Macedonian: Последен повик за петиција за владина....

Deutsch: Petition gegen die Nutzung biometrischer Daten durch den Staat

By means of a petition, the international Alliance 'Hands off biometrics' will urge the Council of Europe to start an investigation on the collection and storage of biometric data by Member States.

European governments are increasingly demanding storage of biometric data (fingerprints and facial scans) from individuals.

UK Supreme Court to hear DNA cases

bogdan — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:11:34 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Oberster Britischer Gerichtshof prüft DNS-Fälle

Following a decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the UK Coalition Government has recently stated its intention to dramatically reduce the retention period of DNA data.

France: Imminent "Humanitarian Fingerprinting" of Roma with OSCAR

bogdan — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:05:16 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Frankreich: Drohende Stigmatisierung von Roma durch OSCAR

The xenophobic anti-Roma campaign run by the French government following President Sarkozy's discourse at the end of July has led to the brutal dismantling of numerous Roma camps, and to the expulsion of 1 000 foreign Roma people from the country within the last month. How could this happen, given that most if not all of them are either from Romania or Bulgaria? As EU citizens since 1 January 2007, they should normally benefit from freedom of movement in the Union.

Romanian Government wants to issue Electronic ID cards

bogdan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:44:06 +0000

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Rumänische Regierung plant elektronische ID-Karten

The Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration (MAI) submitted for public consultation, in the middle of August 2010, a new draft Ordinance for issuing mandatory electronic ID cards for Romanians starting with 1 January 2011.

Even though the decision of having an electronic ID card was taken in 2002 by Ordinance 69/29.08.2002, the practical implementation has been postponed several times since then, due to financial difficulties.