On Wednesday 2 April in Strasbourg, MEPs approved amendments to the proposal for a regulation on increasing the security of identity cards and residence documents issued to EU citizens and their family members by 377 votes to 279, with 16 abstentions.
This advisory opinion stipulates that facial images stored on the storage medium of identity cards and residence documents should only be consulted by duly authorised staff of national authorities, EU agencies and private entities for the purposes of verifying the authenticity of the document and the identity of the holder. Facial images should not be kept longer than necessary, deleted as soon as these purposes are fulfilled and not transferred to third countries or international organisations, unless permitted by law.
Qualified staff should received training on best practices for collecting biometric identifiers from children and vulnerable persons.
Access to the facial image by private entities also requires the consent of the holder, unless access without consent is strictly necessary.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/g88 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)