EU warns Italy over facial recognition: “Using AI to monitor citizens breaks the rules”

The European Commission has warned Italy that its proposed national decree implementing the AI Act breaches EU rules by allowing facial recognition and biometric data collection in public spaces beyond narrowly defined exceptions. The dispute centers on Italy's plan to permit storing biometric data of people passing through certain sensitive locations for seven days, potentially enabling mass surveillance, which contradicts the EU-wide ban on indiscriminate real-time biometric identification.

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