Monaco’s National Council is set to debate its first law on public video surveillance systems with remote biometric identification. The draft bill, number 1087, was submitted last week, biometrics-date.com reports.

According to the Monaco Government, the new law introducing the technology will tackle an increase in threats to public order, including identifying individuals with international arrest warrants. The Police Force is already using over 1,000 CCTV cameras to enhance public security in the city which are currently not hooked up to facial recognition software.

In 2019, Nice became “France’s most heavily watched city” when Monegasque cybersecurity company Confidentia trialed its facial recognition system during the popular Nice carnival.

The draft bill notes that while the GDPR is “intended to be particularly restrictive, it should be noted that EU law is not very explicit on the requirements relating to this ‘absolute’ character, which would justify the appropriateness of implementing data processing relating to the remote biometric identification of wanted persons in places accessible to the public, in the interests of public safety.”

IMAGE: Confidentia fair use

ORIGINAL REPORT: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202401/law-on-public-facial-recognition-surveillance-submitted-in-monaco