EU agrees tough limits on police use of AI biometric surveillance

Measure bans use of real-time data without judicial authorisation in nearly all circumstances and covers both public and private spaces

Police and national security bodies in the EU will be banned from using real-time biometric data driven by artificial intelligence in most circumstances without having judicial authorisation, it has emerged.

The measure was part of a historic agreement reached between the European parliament and EU member states on Friday after three days of negotiations. However, officials only revealed the operational details on Monday, as the final text will not be published until “a cleaning-up process” is complete.