Facial recognition technology is being used by the Department of Social Protection for the public services cards.
A new privacy statement says it carries out processing of bio metrics and photographs to allow comparison with other images to detect welfare fraud.
The Department’s previous privacy statement made no reference to bio-metric processing.
Facial recognition software is controversial in many countries such as China and the US after protesters raised concerns over it’s use by the police and issues surrounding the right to privacy.
Fred Logue, solicitor and data-protection expert, says this new database here raises concerns.
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