Swedish DPA allows the police to use facial recognition technology

The Swedish data protection authority has issued a decision allowing police departments to use facial recognition technology (FRT) to help identify criminal suspects. The authority argues that the impact assessment conducted by the police has provided the necessary privacy assurances to allow it to approve the use of the technology. The police has taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the data being processed, so the use of FRT is in line with privacy laws. However, the law enforcement authority still needs to set a specific time limit for storing the biometric data collected via FRT cameras.