Author: Greens Efa

As an effort to promote privacy and human rights in the EU, we at Greens/EFA got together with a team of international experts to understand where biometric mass surveillance, like facial recognition, is put to use this very moment in different European cities and states.

Keep reading to find out what we learned, and why must take action to ban the use of these technologies now – before it is too late.

Bye bye privacy – Current practices of biometric mass surveillance in the EU

Biometric mass surveillance wrongfully reports large numbers of innocent citizens systematically discriminates against under-represented groups and has a chilling effect on a free and diverse society.

If not regulated, they have the potential to change our societies fundamentally. This is why we must stop them before it’s too late. More and more people are standing up against the deployment of these technologies. In the United States, lawmakers have already started to impose bans on the use of some of the most invasive forms of algorithmic decision-making software: namely facial recognition technologies.

In the European Union, on the other hand, governments are beginning to experiment with systems of facial recognition and other biometric mass surveillance technologies in public spaces. With the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Regulation, the European Union has the chance to safeguard our fundamental rights and to ban biometric surveillance technologies that magnify the discrimination that women, people of colour and other marginalised groups in the European Union already face today.

We have long called for a ban on these highly intrusive and error-prone technologies in publicly accessible spaces. This week, we published a large study and mapping of the current practices in the EU, which shed light on how these privacy-infringing practices have already been put into use in cities, and even entire countries in the European Union. The study is online here, the pdf of the study can be found here .

The study also provides recommendations on how these technologies should be regulated. The study also gives the reader a closer look at seven case studies of the use of biometric mass surveillance technologies in the EU.

Keep reading to learn more about them!

Mapping Mass Surveillance – Can we still hide?

Our map shows that different technologies are being tested or implemented across Member states, often without most citizens even knowing about it. Our lives are being tracked without our consent, and our personal data, also those of children and youth, saved without our knowledge.

What could this look like in real life?

These seven cases below paint a daunting picture on the use of these technologies in cities across Europe. Let’s have a closer look.

The Dragonfly project, Hungary (2019 – Present)

Hungary’s 35 000 CCTV cameras now operate as part of a single centralised searchable system, and its biometric databases have been connected, allowing police to identify any citizen from their face. The Hungarian Secret Services and police have already made use of the system, resulting in 6000 matches, 250 stop-and-searches and 4 arrests.

Mannheim , Germany (2018 – Present)

In Mannheim, the local police installed cameras that were designed to record moving patterns of individuals, with software analysing the movement patterns for suspicious behaviour. The software reports numerous false positives, mistaking hugs for suspicious behaviour.

Nice, France (2017 – Present)

The Mayor of Nice sought to make it a “laboratory” for testing biometric mass surveillance, investing heavily. The tests were criticised heavily by the French Data Protection Authority. Further deployments in schools, and through an app that allowed citizens to film other citizens were shut down following legal rulings against them.

Rotterdam, Netherlands (2019 – 2021)

In October 2019, a courtyard in a neighbourhood in Rotterdam was equipped with cameras and microphones designed to detect suspicious movement and trajectories and to react, influencing the behaviour of the suspect. The technology was unsuccessful, posed legal issues, and failed to reconcile privacy and efficiency. The test ended in 2021.

Brussels, Belgium (2017 – 2019)

Brussels International Airport used four cameras connected to a facial recognition to capture and isolate faces, then check them against a blacklist. The technology was ineffective, with features such as skin colour or facial hair leading to numerous false positives. The system has since been suspended, as the system had been ruled to be operating without legal basis.

Hamburg, Germany (2017 – 2020)

Hamburg Police began using facial recognition technology to profile protestors following the G20 protests. This resulted in a three-year legal battle with the Hamburg Data Protection Supervisor.

Südkreuz, Germany (2017 – 2018)

At Südkreuz Train Station in Berlin, German Federal Police used technology to match faces in CCTV footage with high quality photos of individuals. The test lasted until 2018 and was found to create a significant number of false positives.

Find out if your city is on the map of biometric mass surveillance in the EU, by clicking here!

Our demand is clear: Ban biometric mass surveillance now!

We don’t want to live in a society in which people are tracked, judged and classified based on their appearance and behaviour. This is what the research suggests:

We need the European Commission to impose a ban of biometric mass surveillance technologies throughout the European Union and to acknowledge the adverse effect of biometric surveillance methods on our fundamental rights.

Klimattoppmötet i Glasgow är bara ett par dagar bort. Mötet är det viktigaste på länge, för vi har bara sett början på klimatkrisen. För det som vi klimatforskare har varnat för i årtionden händer nu. Extremväder och naturkatastrofer som skördar dödsoffer har varit ett faktum i fattiga utvecklingsländer länge, men börjar nu bli allt vanligare även i Europa. Bara under detta år har översvämningar i Tyskland och Belgien dödat hundratals samtidigt som bränder och extremhetta har dominerat Grekland, Italien och Spanien. 

Det pågår här, och det pågår nu. 

Men ändå finns det en sak som EU, dess medlemsländer och alla andra länder i världen har gemensamt – de gör alla alldeles för lite för att stävja klimatkrisen. Såväl dess orsak som konsekvenser hanteras inte som utmaningen förtjänar. Klimatomställningen är det viktigaste politiska projekt vi har framför oss. Det är kampen för att alla människor ska utvecklas inom ramen för planetens gränser, snarare än att drabbas av konsekvenserna av att ett fåtal förstör för ett flertal. Det är kampen för dem som inte har en röst.

Men världsledarnas handlingsförlamning blev alltmer uppenbar när FN:s klimatpanel IPCC i somras presenterade den första delen av sin sjätte stora rapport. Det blev smärtsamt uppenbart att ingenting hade förbättrats sedan tidigare rapporter. Klimatforskningen har varit tydlig sedan den första IPCC-rapporten för snart trettio år sedan. Men politiken är otillräcklig – och för varje år som går, krymper vår koldioxidbudget, och sannolikheten för att vi ska lyckas begränsa den globala uppvärmningen till 1,5 grad minskar snabbt.

COP26 i Glasgow – det finns ingen tid att förlora

Det är av yttersta vikt att världens ledare samarbetar internationellt för att tillsammans lösa vår tids stora ödesfråga. Klimattoppmötet COP26 i Glasgow som går av stapeln under första halvan av november är ett unikt tillfälle att gå från ord till handling. Vad som blir allt tydligare är att COP26 kan vara den allra sista chansen världens ledare har på sig att förhindra de allra värsta effekterna av klimatförändringarna. Som officiell delegat för den gröna gruppen är mina krav tydliga. Världens ledare måste gå från vackra ord och löften om nollutsläpp, till konkreta utsläppsminskningar i linje med Parisavtalets mål.

EU:s egna klimatmål måste höjas innan vi pekar finger

För ett par veckor sedan höll EU-kommissionens ordförande Ursula von der Leyen sitt årliga tal till unionen. Det blev dessvärre smärtsamt uppenbart att EU är nöjda med sina nuvarande ambitioner. Att vi har gjort vårt. Det kunde inte vara längre från sanningen. Hon säger sig vilja leva upp till Parisavtalet och pekar på allvaret i situationen i IPCC:s rapport, men om von der Leyen menar allvar med att lyssna på forskningen måste EU göra betydligt mer än vi gör idag. 

För när medlemsstaternas nationella åtaganden analyseras visar det att utsläppen snarare ökar. Alla länder måste lämna in rapporter till FN inför toppmötet för att visa hur de ämnar leva upp till Parisavtalets mål. För att vara i linje med våra åtaganden måste utsläppen till 2030 minska med 45 procent. När NDC Synthesis Report presenterades i september visade det sig att utsläppen istället ökar med 16 procent. Det är fullkomligt oacceptabelt. Enligt FN leder nuvarande nationella åtaganden till 2,7 graders uppvärmning till år 2100.

Misslyckandet är ett faktum

Ska EU kunna vara världsledande i klimatomställningen måste våra klimatmål höjas. Enligt Climate Action Tracker skulle temperaturen stiga med tre grader till slutet av århundradet om hela världen antog vår klimatpolitik. Det finns ingen motsättning, snarare tvärtom, mot att andra länder ska göra mer. För varför ska länder som Kina, Australien och Brasilien göra mer om inte ens EU bedriver en trovärdig klimatpolitik? Fiaskot från Ursula von der Leyens tal till unionen kan inte vara hur EU ska uppfattas på COP26. Man ska inte kasta sten om man bor i ett glashus.

Klimaträttvisa nu

Sanningen är att det är vi i den rika delen av världen som är ansvariga för klimatkrisen. Den rikaste procenten i världen släpper ut dubbelt så mycket som den fattigaste hälften av jordens befolkning. Det måste vara grunden i vår klimatpolitik. Världens fattiga och världens unga bär minst skuld, men drabbas värst av klimatförändringarna. 
Därför måste vi i den rika delen av världen stå för kostnaderna för omställningen i utvecklingsländer. Redan 2009 lovade den rika delen av världen att varje år bidra med 100 miljarder dollar i klimatfinansiering. Det löftet har aldrig uppfyllts. Miljöpartiet i Sveriges regering har lyckats säkerställa en fördubbling av klimatbiståndet och vi gröna kämpar för att alla länder ska följa efter. Till 2023 vill vi att hälften av dessa pengar ska gå till klimatanpassning. Kvinnor är särskilt utsatta och drabbas alltid hårdast av kriser. Såväl Parisavtalets jämställdhetsplan, som EU:s, måste vara i centrum vid utformningen av klimatpolitiken.

Pär Holmgren, EU-parlamentariker för Miljöpartiet de gröna och officiell delegat till klimattoppmötet COP26 i Glasgow.

For our daily updates from the COP in Glasgow click here.

It’s happening. Extreme weather events and natural disasters, already a reality for people and countries in the Global South, are now occurring more often in Europe. This year, in the year of the COP26, we have seen floods in Germany and Belgium that have killed hundreds, and fires and heat waves in Greece, Italy and Spain. We’ve even had severe forest fires as far north as my home country of Sweden. 

The thing that scientists, such as myself, have been warning about for more than three decades – back when man-made climate change was established as fact – is happening now.

The climate emergency is not a problem for the future. It is already here. And yet, the European Union, all of its member states, and all the other countries in the world have one thing in common: they are not doing enough. This became clear once again in this year’s IPCC report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first part of its sixth assessment report earlier this year, and it was a damning indictment of climate inaction. It was clear that nothing had improved since the previous report from 2014. The science has been clear for three decades, but climate policies are still insufficient. For each year without ambitious political decisions, our remaining carbon budget gets smaller. 

At 2021’s UN climate change conference (COP26), there is no time to waste

We are in an emergency situation. It is more important than ever to join forces internationally and work together to solve the biggest crisis of our time. This year’s UN climate change conference – known as COP26 – is a unique chance to put our plans into action. In a couple of days, the world’s leaders will gather in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit. This is a crucial chance to limit the damage humanity has done and pull ourselves back from the brink of devastating climate change. As a delegate for the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament at the COP26, my agenda is clear: we will bring concrete climate demands to the table and hold global players (like China and Australia) accountable for their promises and raise their ambition.

The EU’s Climate goals: why we need to get our own house in order

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address last month was very disheartening. When climate policy was mentioned, it regrettably became clear that the Commission considers itself done. Her answer to solving the climate crisis was that other parts of the world should do more. She referenced the latest IPCC report and claimed to be listening to science. But, listening to science means that the EU should be doing more as well. A lot more.

All EU member states have to come forward with their own increased Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) before the COP26 negotiations. NDCs establish how each country intends to reach the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. When comparing the NDCs put forward so far with what the science shows we should be aiming for, the gap is huge. According to the UN’s NDC Synthesis Report from September 2021, current NDCs would still lead to a 16 % increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (vs 2010). Science says NDCs have to be reduced by at least 45 % to remain on a pathway towards 1.5° C of global warming. Overall, current NDCs will lead to about 2.7 °C global warming by the end of the century. The EU needs to support member states in concrete action to reach those national targets for the EU to be able to keep within the Paris Agreement ambitions.

The clock is ticking to raise the EU’s ambitions in line with the Paris Agreement

The EU should be a global role model for climate action, but the fact is that, right now, the EU is not doing enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Climate Action Tracker rates the EU’s climate policy as “insufficient”. If all countries were to follow the EU’s approach, global warming would reach up to 3° C, whereas the IPCC has warned that anything over 1.5° C would be catastrophic.

No-one is denying that other countries should be stepping up their climate ambition. But, if the EU wants to be credible when we insist that China, Australia and Brazil have to do more, we must urgently get our own house in order. The fiasco of the State of the Union cannot be how the EU is perceived at COP26. The EU must take responsibility for our own climate targets before pointing fingers at others.

The Emissions Gap: why we need climate justice at the COP26 now

Rich countries are more responsible for the climate emergency than the Global South. The richest one percent of the world’s population are responsible for more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest half of the world. This fact needs to be acknowledged in our climate policy. We are the main reason for the problem, after centuries of dependence on fossil energy, and it is our responsibility to fix it. 

Even more so, because poor and marginalised communities are the ones hit hardest by the devastating effects of climate change. Developed countries need to step up with finance to support the transition to a green economy in developing countries, to adapt and mitigate the effects of unavoidable climate change. Promises were made years ago that this climate finance would amount to at least 100 billion dollars a year, starting from 2020, but this goal is still far from being reached.

We also still need an agreement on the climate finance agenda after 2025, taking into account lessons learned from the failure of our last climate finance commitment. As we know that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men, we also need to build on the EU’s new strengthened Gender Action Plan, and all national climate commitments and financing need to be gender-responsive. 

The Paris Agreement: we have a plan, let’s stick to it!

Six years after the Paris Agreement climate plan was signed and ratified, there is only one country in the world that is actually on track to fulfilling the 1.5° C target, and that is The Gambia. 

To follow in its footsteps at the COP26 summit – and to actually implement the Paris Agreement – we have to finalise the Paris Rulebook. The Paris Rulebook is meant to guide countries through the steps they need to take to meet the goals in the Paris Agreement. It should lead as the transparency framework, setting common timeframes, implementing the “no double counting” of carbon markets emissions according to Article 6, as well as how to deal with loss and damage due to climate change (for example to a country’s economy, cultural heritage or public health). This was meant to be decided at COP25 in Madrid two years ago, but was postponed until now. We do not have time to postpone it once again. 

The Greens/EFA message to decision makers at COP26 is quite simple. We want the Paris Agreement to be upheld. That is not too much to ask for. Almost every country in the world says they want the same thing – but they still don’t have the climate policy needed.

What can you do to help us achieve these green goals at the COP26?

You can be part of the change! As tens of thousands of people in every big city march for climate justice, world leaders, ministers and other political delegates are getting ready to pack their bags to attend the climate conference in Glasgow, COP26. Call on them to keep the 1.5° C target within reach. Let them know we still have hope for a just and sustainable future world. Call on them to keep that hope alive.

Pär Holmgren, Greens/EFA member of European Parliament and official delegate to the COP26 in Glasgow.

Follow our daily report live from the COP in Glasgow with news and debriefs from climate activists and MEPs here.