EU will create database with biometric data of 350 million people

European parliament voted for creation of unique database that will unite systems of border control, migration and law enforcement institutions.

New database will have a name Common Identity Repository (CIR), will be available for a search and will allow tracing biometric data of EU citizens and citizens of non-EU countries.

As supposed, CIR will unite identification notes (names, birth dates, passport numbers and other identification information) and biometric data (fingerprints, face scanning). Access to data will be given to all points of border control and law enforcement structures. Main purpose of database is in simplification of border guards’ and police work that will search in one system.

“The systems covered by the new rules would include the Schengen Information System, Eurodac, the Visa Information System (VIS) and three new systems: the European Criminal Records System for Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN), the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS),” EU officials said in press-release.

CIR concept

Ever since plans to create this shared biometrics database have been made public last year, privacy advocates have criticized the EU, calling CIR’s creation as the “point of no return” in creating “a Big Brother centralised EU state database.”

After launching CIR will be one of the world greatest databases on par wth Chinese government database and Indian biometric system Asdhar. European parliament and European Council, in their turn, promised to apply proper measures for confidentiality protection and control of access to the data.

Source: www.zdnet.com