Security Architectures in the EU

Tag: Visa Information System

  • Screening of travellers: U.S. wants to query fingerprint databases in Europe

    Screening of travellers: U.S. wants to query fingerprint databases in Europe

    To participate in the Visa Waiver Programme, Israel allows U.S. authorities access to its biometric data. The government in Washington wants to make this mandatory for another 40 countries. The US government has sent a letter to EU member states announcing an Enhanced Border Security Partnership (EBSP). This would regulate access to fingerprint databases by […]

  • Facial recognition at German police authorities increased by more than a third

    Facial recognition at German police authorities increased by more than a third

    Millions of faces, fingerprints and palm prints are stored in German police databases. Law enforcement agencies are also processing more and more biometric data at the EU level. The comparison of photographs by German police authorities has again increased sharply in the past year. This is shown by statistics based on information provided by the […]

  • EU Entry/Exit System: Border police purchases new biometric control technologies

    EU Entry/Exit System: Border police purchases new biometric control technologies

    An EU regulation forces travellers from third countries to leave their fingerprints and facial image when crossing the border. All Member States must therefore invest in new infrastructure at land, sea and air borders. Because checks therefore take longer, authorities are procuring self-service kiosks for handing in biometric data. More than two years ago, in […]

  • EU merges biometric data pots: Now the query tsunami is coming

    EU merges biometric data pots: Now the query tsunami is coming

    Under the keyword “Interoperability”, the large EU databases in the area of justice and home affairs will be interlinked. Fingerprints and facial images are stored with personal data in a searchable “Identity Repository”. Data queries are expected to increase drastically, with Europol alone expecting 100,000 per day. The European Union is providing all information systems […]