Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The topic for the first connected multinational biometric system of the EU called Eurodac this week is in the political focus of the European Parliament.
The key elements of the migration pact are done, including the proposal to beef up screening and Eurodac, the EU’s fingerprint database.
This new policy of the EU that will be implemented in the future raises concerns for the left-wing political group of the European Parliament. The representatives of this group note that EURODAC is becoming a powerful tool for mass surveillance.
In a statement for Brussels Morning Malin Anna Björk the MEP of the Swedish Left Party notes that The Eurodac regulation has turned into a tool of mass surveillance that includes setting up a massive database with large amounts of detailed, biometric data of people seeking asylum in the EU.
” It even allows for member states to use “coercion” in order to take fingerprints of children as young as six years. All this information could then be matched with other databases and shared with all other member states. This proposal tabled by the extreme right-wing rapporteur contains many serious breaches of the fundamental rights of people, especially children. It should never have been tabled in the first place and even less adopted.” says Malin Björk.
What is the Eurodac Regulation?
Eurodac was originally created in 2000 (Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000) and it has been operating since 2003. The Commission considers it to be a very successful information technology (IT) tool. The Eurodac system enables the comparison of fingerprints of asylum applicants and persons apprehended in connection to an irregular or illegal border crossing in 32 States. 28 EU Member States (including the UK) and 4 Associated Dublin States (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland) use the system,
