Biometric Data, Data Protection and the Right to Privacy

Abstract

Are biometric data always personal data ? Until today, this question is raised repeatedly, as well as whether biometric data are ‘sensitive’ data. The Chapter provides answers based on a detailed analysis of the concepts from a national and European law perspective. The guidance of the Article 29 Working Party on these questions is hereby commented in a critical way, also taking into account the opinions WP192 and WP193 of 2012. The author also suggests a definition of biometric data, indispensible for framing later proposals. Biometric data is further compared with biological material and DNA, for which more detailed regulation exists. Many esteem that DNA analysis will soon be possible in ‘real time’ as well. The author concludes with sketching the privacy and data protection framework, now also both fundamental rights as proclaimed in the EU Charter, in which biometric data processing shall fit in. Varying national approaches surface as an omen for diverging interpretations and guidance for processing biometric data.