#BanBiometricMassSurveillance #BiometricMassSurveillance
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Protect My Face: Brussels residents join the fight against biometric mass surveillance
The newly-launched Protect My Face campaign gives residents of the Brussels region of Belgium the opportunity to oppose mass facial recognition. EDRi applauds this initiative which demands that the Brussels Parliament ban these intrusive and discriminatory practices.
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Phone unlocking vs biometric mass surveillance: what’s the difference?
Facial recognition is one of the most hotly-debated topics in the European Union’s (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act. Lawmakers are more aware than ever of the risks posed by automated surveillance systems which pervasively track our faces – as well as our bodies and movements - across time and place. This can amount to biometric mass surveillance (BMS), which undermines our anonymity and freedom, and weaponises our faces and bodies against us. The article explores the types of biometric technology and their implications.
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Remote biometric identification: a technical & legal guide
Lawmakers are more aware than ever of the risks posed by automated surveillance systems which track our faces, bodies and movements across time and place. In the EU's AI Act, facial and other biometric systems which can identify people at scale are referred to as 'Remote Biometric Identification', or RBI. But what exactly is RBI, and how can you tell the difference between an acceptable and unacceptable use of a biometric system?
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How can you influence the AI Act in order to ban biometric mass surveillance across Europe?
The EU is currently negotiating the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. This future law offers the chance to effectively ban biometric mass surveillance. This article aims to offer an overview of how the EU negotiates its laws and the key AI Act moments in which people can make their voices heard.
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Italian DPA fines Clearview AI for illegally monitoring and processing biometric data of Italian citizens
On 9 March 2022, the Italian Data Protection Authority fined the US-based facial recognition company Clearview AI EUR 20 million after finding that the company monitored and processed biometric data of individuals on Italian territory without a legal basis. The fine is the highest expected according to the General Data Protection Regulation, and it was motivated by a complaint sent by the Hermes Centre in May 2021 in a joint action with EDRi members Privacy International, noyb, and Homo Digitalis—in addition to complaints sent by some individuals and to a series of investigations launched in the wake of the 2020 revelations of Clearview AI business practices.
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Reclaim Your Face impact in 2021
A sturdy coalition, research reports, investigations, coordination actions and gathering amazing political support at national and EU level. This was 2021 for the Reclaim Your Face coalition – a year that, despite happening in a pandemic – showed what the power of a united front looks like.
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New German government calls for European ban on biometric mass surveillance
The newly-agreed German government coalition has called for a Europe-wide ban on public facial recognition and other biometric surveillance. This echoes the core demands of the Reclaim Your Face campaign which EDRi has co-led since 2020, through which over 65 civil society groups ask the EU and their national governments to outlaw biometric data mass surveillance.
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EDRi urges Portugal government to oppose proposed video surveillance law
EDRi member and Reclaim Your Face lead organisation D3 (Defesa Dos Direitos Digitais) are raising awareness of how the Portuguese government’s new proposed video surveillance and facial recognition law – which Ministers are trying to rush through the Parliament - amounts to illiberal biometric mass surveillance. It also endangers the very foundations of democracy on which the Republic of Portugal rests.
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EDRi and 41 human rights organisations call on the European Parliament to reject amendments to AI and criminal law report
EDRi and 41 human rights organisations* call on the members of the European Parliament to vote against the new amendments, which enable discriminatory predictive policing and biometric mass surveillance.
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Who, What, Why? Your guide to all things ECI! #ReclaimYourFace
Calling all digital rights heroes: EDRi needs your support! As part of the Reclaim Your Face campaign, we are running a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban biometric mass surveillance practices in the EU. To be successful, we need to collect 1 million signatures. Read more to find out how we keep ECI data safe, and how your signature can make a big difference.
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