Prüm Treaty – Matthias Monroy

EU facial recognition

Police and secret services can currently search facial images only in individual EU Member States. The EU wants to change that

The European Union wants to make it much easier for police to cross-check facial images. In the future, it will be possible to compare search photos with corresponding databases in all member states. Such a search could be carried out with still images from surveillance cameras in order to identify an unknown person. At present, each country in the EU must be contacted individually for this purpose.

The relevant facial image databases are usually held by police authorities. In Germany, this is the police information system INPOL, which is maintained at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) for all German police departments. More than four million searchable photographs are currently stored there, many of them from police measures after an arrest. „EU facial recognition“ weiterlesen

European Union plans borderless query of facial images

In the Prüm Treaty, the police search for biometric data among EU Member States is significantly simplified. Under Austria’s leadership, the extension is now being examined for facial recognition. A corresponding Council decision could already be taken next year.

The European Union wants to make it much easier for the police to cross-check biometric data. This concerns mugshots or photographs that are stored in police databases after identification by the police. If an authority wants to determine the identity of a person using a photograph, each EU Member State must currently be contacted individually. It is therefore planned to set up a system that will allow data to be searched simultaneously in each country. „European Union plans borderless query of facial images“ weiterlesen

Internal security in the EU: „Moving from data collection to data connection“

The European Union intends to further strengthen operational cooperation and exchange of information between police authorities. The focus will be on upgrading Europol, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

According to a paper by the Romanian government, Europol’s mandate and capabilities should be further strengthened. The police agency will therefore be developed into a „law enforcement information hub“.

The proposal was made within the framework of the EU Council Presidency, which Romania held in the first half of the year. Since 1 July, the European Union has been led by Finland, where the issues are dealt with further. „Internal security in the EU: „Moving from data collection to data connection““ weiterlesen