Ensuring the Right to Privacy in Biometric Data Processing in the European Union

Abstract

The paper analyzes the current legal norms regulating the processing of biometric data of citizens at the level of the European Union. Particular attention is given to the study of the list of conditions for the processing of special categories of personal data, established by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The paper notes the problems of downplaying in the GDPR the role of the consent of the subject to the processing of special categories of personal data, as well as the clear advantage of the public interest (security of society and the state) over the individual’s right to privacy. The practice of the ECHR and the EU Court of Justice on the issue under study is analyzed. The author draws a conclusion about conflicts that arise as a result of the right granted to Member States to additionally adopt at the national level their own rules for processing special categories of personal data. Practical measures are proposed to improve the legal regulation of the processing of biometric data in order to establish a balance between the private interests of citizens and the public interests of society and the state.