Italy’s data protection authority has banned the use of facial recognition systems and smart glasses. Warnings have already been issued to two municipalities, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n
The moratorium will remain in effect until Parliament passes the relevant law or, at the latest, until the end of 2023.<\/p>\n
Exceptions apply where the technology is used in judicial investigations or in crime-fighting efforts.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe moratorium stems from the need to regulate the qualifications, conditions and guarantees related to facial recognition in accordance with the principle of proportionality,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Under EU and Italian law, processing of personal data by the state using video-surveillance devices is generally permitted on grounds of public interest and in connection with the activities of public authorities.<\/p>\n
However, municipalities wishing to use these technologies must sign ‘city safety agreements’ with representatives of the central government, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
The agency also responded to the authorities’ plan for Lecce<\/span> to use facial recognition. The municipality was required to provide descriptions of the adopted systems, their purposes and legal basis, as well as a list of databases accessed by the monitoring devices.<\/p>\n
The agency also drew attention to the Tuscan city of Arezzo, where the local police planned to use infrared sensors for automatic license-plate recognition.<\/p>\n
Previously the agency fined Clearview AI \u20ac20 million for breaches of EU data-collection laws relating to biometric identification systems.<\/p>\n