The Use of Biometric Data to Identify Terrorists: Best Practice or Risky Business?

About this Webinar:

The distinct value and practical benefits of the use of biometric data is increasingly acknowledged including in the context of addressing trans-border challenges in law enforcement and intelligence gathering, border management, evidentiary and forensic use. This trend is also reflected in the regulatory efforts by the United Nations Security Council.  Specifically, resolution 2396 requires that States “develop and implement systems to collect biometric data” in order to “responsibly and properly identify terrorists, including foreign terrorist fighters.”

Despite the rapid advance of biometric technology and its widespread usage, human rights analysis and guidance on its use remains limited. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, has repeatedly highlighted this shortcoming.  She has stressed the need for granular rule of law and human rights-based analysis in relation to the extensive obligations imposed by the Security Council, with particular emphasis on requirements relating to biometric systems and data. 

The webinar will present the findings of the report entitled “The Use of Biometric Data to Identify Terrorists: Best Practice or Risky Business?,” developed by the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota Law School, in support of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. It brings together a multi-stakeholder panel to explore the human rights implications of the use of biometric tools and data and challenges to their human rights-compliant deployment in the context of preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism. 

Moderator: 

• Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnestoa Law School and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism

Panelists:

• Mr. Kuda Hove, Policy Officer, Privacy International
• Dr. Krisztina Huszti-Orban, Research Fellow, Human Rights Center at the at the University of Minnesota Law School, Senior Legal Advisor to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
• Ms. Karen Melchior, Member, European Parliament
• TBC, United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)