IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 45
Consequently, the data retention
aspect of biometric systems poses
an additional challenge to the right to
privacy [25]. The more information a
biometric system has, the more reliable it is [26]. There is an incentive to
capture as much biometric data as
possible. That incentive can threaten individual privacy through "potential data misuse, function creep, and
linkage of databases via biometric databases" [27]. The ECtHR has
observed that personal data retention has "a direct impact on the
private-life interests of an individual
... irrespective of whether subsequent use is made of the data" [13].
In particular, the ECtHR took issue
with the "blanket and indiscriminate
nature of the power of [data] retention" [13]. That conclusion is at odds
with the need for a comprehensive
database in a biometric system. The
type of biometric information, and
the duration for which it is held, are
factors that will affect the permissibility of a given biometric surveillance program.
Melbourne Law School, and Prof.
R.E. Burnett of the National Defense
University, Washington, DC, for generously supporting his research on
this issue.
Author Information
Angus Willoughby is a member of
the Program on the Regulation of
Emerging Military Technologies at
the University of Melbourne. He has
completed law degrees at the University of Melbourne and the University of Cambridge.
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intrusion upon private life.
Acknowledgment
The author thanks Dr. Rain Liivoja and Prof. Tim McCormack of
the Program on the Regulation of
Emerging Military Technology and
SEPTEMBER 2017
∕
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE
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45
https://peoiews.army.mil/programs/
http://www
http://www.dfba.mil/Files/Documents/Reports/DFBA
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https://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Science
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