At the dawn of the 21st century, the European Union is committed to the development and deployment of responsible, inclusive, and humane technology. On the ongoing debate over so-called high-risk technologies for surveillance in public spaces, facial recognition technology (FRT) is a typical case for European scrutiny.



Far from bringing consensus, these technologies strongly polarize the public debate: European law enforcement agencies call for their adoption and the European industry sees them as a driver to innovation, while human rights associations and public opinion show concerns.



Under its Action 3: "Evaluate the application of AI inclusive technologies", the Urban Agenda Partnership on Security in Public Spaces intends to take part in the debate over surveillance technology as part of its overall mission. 



The present study defines FRTs, discusses current experiments, catalogues the applicability of European law, and concludes with recommendations.



You can download the report below.