Abstract
The use of biometrics, including fingerprints and DNA, by governmental authorities is generally associated with the purposes of criminal investigation and law enforcement. More recently, biometrics became a central tool for migration control purposes. Especially at the EU level, different instruments have been adopted on the basis of which fingerprints and facial image of migrants and citizens are collected and stored for identification purposes.
Contribution received in 2010.
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Notes
- 1.
Communication of 25 November 2005, COM (2005) 597.
- 2.
See for an earlier overview Brouwer 2007, pp. 45–66.
- 3.
Regulation 2725/2000 of 11 December 2000 OJ L 316, 15.12.2000.
- 4.
Regulation 343/2003 (Dublin II) 18 February 2003.
- 5.
Annual report on the activities of the Eurodac Central Unit in 2008, 25.09.2009, COM (2009) 494.
- 6.
See on the development and meaning of SIS, Brouwer 2008.
- 7.
This percentage dropped in the last few years because of the introduction and the reporting of the European Arrest Warrant in SIS.
- 8.
OJ L 381/4, 28.12.2006.
- 9.
Art. 22(c) reads: ‘as soon as this becomes technically possible, fingerprints may also be used to identify a third-country national on the basis of his biometric identifier. Before this functionality is implemented in SIS II, the Commission shall present a report on the availability and readiness of the required technology, on which the European Parliament shall be consulted.’
- 10.
OJ L 218, 13.08.2008.
- 11.
Press Release JHA Council 30 November-1 December 2009, Council document 16883 (Presse 355).
- 12.
COM (2004) 835.
- 13.
Press Release European Commission, 12 June 2007, IP/07/802.
- 14.
OJ L 131, 29.05.2009. See for the Commission proposal, COM (2006) 269, 31.5.2006.
- 15.
See further: Geyer 2008.
- 16.
See the Commission’s Communication on Examining the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) and the Communication on Preparing the next steps in border management in the European Union COM (2008) 68, respectively, COM (2008) 69, 13.2.2008.
- 17.
COM (2008) 69, pp. 5, 6.
- 18.
OJ L 385, 29.12.2004.
- 19.
OJ L115, 29.04.2008. Note that the original proposal of the European Commission only referred to the ‘approximation’ of biometric features and identifiers.
- 20.
The proposed part 16 reads: ‘16. Member States may incorporate in the residence permit a separate contact chip for national use which shall comply with ISO standards and shall in no way interfere with the RF chip.’
- 21.
Council document 16982/06, 20 December 2006.
- 22.
Council document 17102/06, 22 December 2006, p. 6.
- 23.
COM (2009) 344, 10.09.09.
- 24.
Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders. OJ L 105, 13.4.2006.
- 25.
5709/6/06. See also the draft of the Austrian Presidency of January 2006 which, for the first time, included this extended use of data on third-country nationals, 5709/06, 27 January 2006.
- 26.
Conclusions meeting Council Competitiveness 7.III.2005, Council document 6811/05.
- 27.
See the proposal for a Council Decision concerning access for consultation of the VIS by these authorities, COM (2005) 600 final, 24.11.2005.
- 28.
Council document 5456/1/07, 20 February 2007.
- 29.
Press release JHA Council, 12–13 June 2007, Council document 10267/07 (Presse 125), p. 15.
- 30.
Decision 2008/633 of 23 June 2008 on the access of designated national authorities and Europol to the VIS for the purpose of prevention, detection, and investigation of terrorist offenses and other serious criminal offenses OJ L 218, 13.08.2008.
- 31.
Rotaru v. Romania, 4 May 2000, No. 28341/95 ECHR 2000-V, Section 43–44.
- 32.
Amann v. Switzerland of 16 February 2000, No. 27798/95, ECHR 2000-II, Sect. 68–70. See for a further description of the ECHR jurisprudence, Chapters 6 and 7 in Brouwer 2008.
- 33.
S. and Marper v. UK, 4 December 2008, Appl. No. 30562/04 and 30566/04.
- 34.
See also Segerstedt-Wiberg and others v. Sweden, 6 June 2006, Appl. No. 62332/00. EHRC 2006, 89 annotation J.P. Loof.
- 35.
Huvig and Kruslin v. France, Both cases of 24 April 1990, No. 11801/95, Series A 176A (Kruslin) and No. 11105/84, Series A 176B (Huvig).
- 36.
Rechnungshof v. Österreichischer Rundfunk and Others, 20 May 2003, Joint Affairs C-465/00, C-138/01 and C-139/01.
- 37.
Huber v. Germany, 16 December 2008, C-524/06.
- 38.
European Commission 2005.
- 39.
A ‘primary key’ can be described as an instrument enabling the identification of a person and, based on this identification, a very rapid search through different databases.
- 40.
Published on http://www.edps.europa.eu, visited 13 January 2010.
- 41.
Published on the website of the Dutch Data Protection Authority, CBP, http://www.cbpweb.nl, accessed 13 January 2010.
- 42.
See also the reaction of the Art. 29 Data Protection Working Party, Opinion on Implementing the Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004, 9.
- 43.
This risk of data collection on a particular group of persons has been confirmed by the German Constitutional Court in the what is called ‘Rasterfahndungs case,’ Bundesverfassungsgericht, 4 April 2006, 1 BvR 518/02 published on 23 May 2006.
- 44.
Eurodac Supervision Coordination Group, Second Inspection Report 2009, 24 June 2009, at http://www.edps.europa.eu, pp. 17–19.
Abbreviations
- ECtHR:
-
European Court for Human Rights
- SIS:
-
Schengen Information System
- VIS:
-
Visa Information System
- EDPS:
-
European Data Protection Supervisor
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Brouwer, E. (2011). The Use of Biometrics at the Borders: A European Policy and Law Perspective. In: van der Hof, S., Groothuis, M. (eds) Innovating Government. Information Technology and Law Series, vol 20. T.M.C. Asser Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-731-9_14
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