On April 16, 2021, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA), issued an unfavourable opinion on the use of the SARI Real Time system by the Ministry of the Interior, a real-time facial recognition system aiming to assist the Police Force in the management of public order and safety.

After a preleminary initiative was announced in January 2021, the European Digital Rights (EDRi) organisation and 55 others sent a new letter to Didier Reynders (European Commissioner for Justice) on April 1st, 2021 to support their demand for a specific ban on biometric mass surveillance technologies.

Over the past few weeks, the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based organisation that promotes and protects human rights, democracy and the rule of law, has been raising awareness about the risks of using AI enabled technologies and preparing a draft proposal for ensuring adequate AI regulation.

On March 12, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) opened a public consultation about their new guidelines on Virtual Vocal Assistants (VVA) which were adopted on March 9, 2021.

On March 9, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted version 2.0 of its guidelines – On processing personal data in the context of connected vehicles and mobility related applications following a period of public consultation that ended in May 2020.

The French government issued a decree on March 10, 2021 authorising automated analysis of the rate of compliance with the obligation to wear a mask on public transport

On Thursday 18, 2020, the President of the CNIL issued a warning to a sports club who were considering using a facial recognition system to stop people with stadium bans from attending their games.

The Swedish DPA fines the police authorities for their use of facial recognition. Employees from two services were using Clearview AI’s App.

On January 28, 2020, The Council of Europe (CoE) adopted a new set of guidelines on facial recognition addressed to governments, legislators and businesses. The guidelines were developed by the Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe, after a 7-year process, that resulted in the updating of Convention 108

On January 20, 2020, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution which includes new guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for civil and military use.