Fundamental rights implications of using live facial recognition: general points

• Author: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 18-22

Facial recognition technology: fundamental rights considerations in the context of law enforcement

18

6.

Fundamental rights implications of using

live facial recognition: general points

The use of facial recognition technology entails

both risks and opportunities for fundamental

rights. It entails many fundamental rights chal-

lenges that result from the weak position of the

individuals whose facial images are captured and

then checked against a ‘watchlist’. At the same

time, facial recognition technology can offer more

timely protection – for example by helping to f‌ind

missing children – and can help to detect fraud

and identify theft.

With many unanswered questions linked to the

technology’s use and accuracy, major concerns

with the use of facial recognition technologies

and particularly live facial recognition technolo-

gies have been voiced by civil society. This sec-

tion presents how facial recognition is perceived

and analyses the fundamental rights implications

of such technology in general. Section 7 discusses

the individual fundamental rights that are most

affected.

6.1. Public perceptions

There is no detailed assessment across the EU of

the extent to which people f‌ind the use of facial

recognition technologies intrusive. However, there

are indications that a certain share of the popula-

tion strongly objects to being subjected to facial

recognition. In a survey conducted by FRA in 2015

– involving 1,227 third-country nationals at seven

border crossing points – 12% of all respondents

indicated feeling very uncomfortable when their

facial image was used for crossing the border (see

Figure 1); 18% considered providing a facial image

at a border very intrusive to their privacy; and 26%

said that doing so was humiliating. There are dif-

ferences across nationalities, with Russians and

citizens of the United States being less concerned,

and Chinese citizens and people from other areas

in the world being more concerned. No clear dif-

ferences with respect to the level of feeling humil

-

iated based on age and gender emerged from the

Figure 1: Travellers’ level of feeling comfortable with providing facial images at borders, 2015

Notes: Question: “How comfortable are you with the use of facial images when crossing the border?”; N = 1,227.

Source: FRA, 2015 (based on survey carried out at seven border-crossing points)