The Impact of EU Privacy Legislation on Biometric System Deployment: Protecting citizens but constraining applications

Biometric systems provide a valuable service in helping to identify individuals from their stored personal details. Unfortunately, with the rapidly increasing use of such systems, there is a growing concern about the possible misuse of that information. To counteract the threat, the European Union (EU) has introduced comprehensive legislation that seeks to regulate data collection and help strengthen an individual's right to privacy. This article looks at the implications of the legislation for biometric system deployment. After an initial consideration of current privacy concerns, the definition of personal data and its protection is examined in legislative terms. Also covered are the issues surrounding the storage of biometric data, including its accuracy, its security, and justification for what is collected. Finally, the privacy issues are illustrated through three biometric use cases: border security, online bank access control, and customer profiling in stores.