AI Act Article 5(1)(h): the use of ‘real-time’ remote biometric identification systems in publicly accessible spaces for...

Official wording

Article 5(1): The following AI practices shall be prohibited:

(h) the use of ‘real-time’ remote biometric identification systems in publicly accessible spaces for the purposes of law enforcement, unless and in so far as such use is strictly necessary for one of the following objectives:

(i) the targeted search for specific victims of abduction, trafficking in human beings or sexual exploitation of human beings, as well as the search for missing persons;

(ii) the prevention of a specific, substantial and imminent threat to the life or physical safety of natural persons or a genuine and present or genuine and foreseeable threat of a terrorist attack;

(iii) the localisation or identification of a person suspected of having committed a criminal offence, for the purpose of conducting a criminal investigation or prosecution or executing a criminal penalty for offences referred to in Annex II and punishable in the Member State concerned by a custodial sentence or a detention order for a maximum period of at least four years.

Point (h) of the first subparagraph is without prejudice to Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 for the processing of biometric data for purposes other than law enforcement.

Related paragraphs

Article 5(2) to (7) also deal with the use of real-time remote biometric identification systems for law enforcement. Read them in the Regulation.

When it applies

Article 113, third paragraph, point (a): Chapters I and II shall apply from 2 February 2025, with the exception of Article 5(1), first subparagraph, points (ba) and (bb), and Article 5(1a) and (1b) which shall apply from 2 December 2026.

This entry is not one of the exceptions. The date for this entry is 2 February 2025.

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