The Risks of Discrimination of Biometric Mass Surveillance

Throughout the European Union, governments are experimenting with highly intrusive systems of facial recognition and other biometric mass surveillance in public spaces. At the same time, there has been a global uproar against the usage of these technologies due to their alarming consequences for fundamental rights, fuelling mass surveillance and racial discrimination. In the united states, lawmakers have already started to impose strong legislations that ban the use of these technologies.

The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament therefore calls on the European Commission to equally acknowledge the adverse effect of biometric surveillance methods on our fundamental rights, and to impose a ban of biometric mass surveillance technologies in the European Union.

Together with international experts, we want to discuss with you about the harmful effects of biometric mass surveillance and the ways through which these technologies amplify racial discrimination and exclusion in our societies.

Programme

• 16:00 – 16:05 Introduction by MEP Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party, Greens/EFA)
• 16:05 – 16:50 Panel Discussion with Experts on Surveillance, Human Rights, Race and Tech
• 16:50 – 17:00 Q&A with audience
• 17:00 – 17:05 Concluding Remarks by MEP Kim van Sparrentak (GroenLinks , Greens/EFA)

EXPERTS

Mutale Nkonde is an AI Policy advisor of the UN, member of the Tik Tok Advisory Board and CEO of AI for the People, a nonprofit communications firm that seeks to change tech neutrality narratives. Prior to this, Nkonde worked in AI Governance. Nkonde holds fellowships at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University and the Institute of Advanced Study at Notre Dame and is an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Gracie Mae Bradley is a human rights expert and campaigner. She is Interim Director at Liberty, and her interests include state surveillance, migration, policing and equality.

Ella Jakubowska is a Policy and Campaigns Officer at European Digital Rights (EDRi), the largest European network defending fundamental rights and freedoms online. She leads the network's advocacy on biometric technologies (such as facial recognition) and is one of the coordinators of the recently-launched pan-European "Reclaim Your Face" campaign to ban biometric mass surveillance. Ella is also involved in work on artificial intelligence, human rights due diligence, and non-discrimination.