Facial Recognition – Austrian Regulations v European Approach?

Over the last couple of years, more and more countries have deployed technologies that allow them to match digital images of a person (e.g. from a surveillance camera) against a database of pictures. While these technologies tend to facilitate certain tasks, be they identification of criminal suspects, ID verification for various computing platforms or other electronic devices, or deployment on CCTV surveillance, they are prone to misuse and to data and privacy infringement. For example, the government of Hong Kong used real-time facial recognition technology to identify protestors at the 2019 demonstrations against the Extradition Law Amendment Bill, causing them to destroy cameras and "smart" lampposts used for CCTV surveillance.¹ But as these technologies are increasingly adopted in Europe and in Austria, it is important to learn more about the domestic use, regulations and plans for the future.