An industry alliance is pushing for a relaxation of European data protection regulations to establish biometric procedures more broadly in air travel. The initiative aims to enshrine legal facilitation for voluntary biometric services within the “Digital Omnibus” legislative package.
Calls for rules on voluntary biometrics
The initiative is advocating for placing the use of facial recognition at airports on a simplified legal footing. Currently, the processing of biometric data in the European Union is subject to particularly stringent legal protection requirements. Under the alliance’s vision, provisions should be created within the contentious Digital Omnibus package to make it easier for passengers to voluntarily use biometric control systems.
For airlines and airport operators, the primary focus is on automated processes that can speed up check-in, security screenings, or boarding via facial scans. Critics, however, regularly point to the risks associated with storing and processing such sensitive personal identifiers.
Panel insists on proportionality
The industry’s deregulation plans are countered by data protection requirements. In an opinion on the use of facial recognition at airports, the responsible data protection body emphasized that any processing of biometric data is subject to strict proportionality. Accordingly, such data must not be collected without a compelling reason and without assessing alternative, more privacy-preserving methods.
The discussion is part of a series of European legislative initiatives aimed at adapting data protection standards for security or economic purposes, such as the plans to scale back data protection requirements for authority analyses.
Significance for air travelers
Whether and to what extent the Digital Omnibus legislative package will be adapted is currently the subject of political negotiations. As long as no new legal frameworks are in force, existing European protection standards remain fully applicable. For passengers, this means that biometric procedures at EU airports continue to face high legal hurdles and cannot be made mandatory without clear justification. In the case of existing voluntary trials at gates or check-in desks, travelers should carefully check which data is collected and what conventional alternatives without facial recognition are available.
Sources: Heise – Netzpolitik, Heise – News
