This is the first ever detailed analysis of what is the most widespread way in which Facial Recognition is used in public (& private) spaces: to authorise access to a place or to a service. The 3rd Report in our #MAPFRE series should be of great interest to lawyers interested in data protection; AI ethics specialists; the private sector; data controllers; DPAs and the EDPB; policymakers; and the general public, who will find here an accessible way to understand all these issues.

The French DPA, CNIL, stressed that “the current debate on facial recognition is sometimes distorted by a poor grasp of this technology and how it works”. This 2nd of 6 Reports of our MAPFRE series provides a path to understanding with a classification table presenting in the most accessible way the different facial processing functionalities and applications used in public spaces.

How to regulate the use of facial recognition in public spaces in Europe? This crucial debate has often been characterised by a lack of clarity and precision. Here is the first of 6 Reports from our big “MAPFRE” research project, a detailed independent study analysing the different ways in which FRT is being used and the related legal issues.

On November 16th, 2021, the Future of Privacy Forum, in partnership with the Brussels Privacy Hub, organised the 2021 Brussels Privacy Symposium entitled ‘The Age of AI Regulation: Global Strategic Directions’. This symposium marked one of the first opportunities to discuss the AI Regulation Chair’s current project, which aims to map the use of facial recognition in public places in Europe.

To contribute to the debate around the use and appropriate regulation of Facial Recognition Technologies, AI Regulation and Skopai have engaged in a unique partnership in order to map the current landscape of start-ups developing facial recognition technologies.

On June 23, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) shared a joint opinion regarding the European Commission’s AI regulation proposal.

On May 27, 2021, a coalition of civil society groups including Privacy International, the Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights, Homo Digitalis and noyb, filed several claims in Europe against the U.S facial recognition firm Clearview AI.

The following is the Final Report on the high-level workshop on facial recognition organised on April 26, 2021 by the Chair on the Legal and Regulatory Implications of Artificial Intelligence (MIAI@Grenoble Alpes) in association with Microsoft.

In cooperation with Microsoft we organised, on April 26, 2021, a preliminary high level discussion on the rules for facial recognition and “remote biometric identification” (RBI) systems. We are posting some useful materials here

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.

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.