France Plans to Become First European Country to Use Facial Recognition for Digital Identity System

France Plans to Become First European Country to Use Facial Recognition for Digital Identity System

The French government plans to introduce a program called Alicem that will require residents to take a selfie video to compare to their passport photo.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Oct 04, 2019

As part of its plans to roll out an ID program in November, the French government will incorporate facial recognition technology into a mandatory digital identity for all citizens, according to a Bloomberg report.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government is championing the ID program, known as Alicem, as a way to make government programs more efficient. But France’s data regulator has said that Alicem breaches Europe’s rules around consent for collecting personal data, Bloomberg reported. In addition, after a hacker was able to gain access to a government messaging app in a little over an hour, citizens are concerned about the country’s ability to keep their data secure. 

French privacy rights group La Quadrature du Net has already filed a lawsuit against the government for its plans to launch an Android-only app that will be the only way for French people to create a legal digital identity. Facial recognition will be its sole enabler, according to Bloomberg. 

Once residents download the app, they will create their ID by comparing a passport-style photo to a selfie video taken by the user to obtain different angles and expressions. Critics say that this app violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and France’s independent privacy watchdog has voiced its concerns about potential GDPR issues. 

“The government wants to funnel people to use Alicem and facial recognition,” Martin Drago, a lawyer member of La Quadrature du Net, told Bloomberg. “We’re heading into mass usage of facial recognition. (There’s) little interest in the importance of consent and choice.”

While France may be the first European country to institute a facial recognition-based digital ID, countries in Asia are in the midst of launching their own programs or already have. Singapore is creating a facial recognition system for government services, China uses facial recognition IDs to monitor its citizens, and India scans people’s irises for its identity systems. 

Macron’s interior ministry maintains that face scans will be deleted after the person enrolls in the system, and that they will not be used to monitor residents, according to MIT Technology Review. For Patrick Van Eecke, a privacy and data specialist in Belgium, the French program can be viewed through two lenses. 

“You can look at France’s use of facial recognition for digital identity in two ways: it goes too far in terms of privacy, or they’re using the most secure new technology. Are they a front-runner or are they overstepping the mark?” Van Eecke told Bloomberg. 

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Securing the Future

    Two security experts sit down with Security Today’s editor in chief Ralph C. Jensen to discuss what they see emerging and changing over the next several years along with how security stakeholders can harness these innovations into opportunities. Read Now

  • Collaboration Made Easy Using a Work Management Platform

    Effective collaboration between security operators, teams and other departments is critical to the smooth functioning of organizations. Yet, as organizations grow in complexity, it becomes more difficult for teams to coordinate with each other. This is compounded by staffing shortages, turnover and ineffective collaboration tools. Read Now

  • Creating a Safer World

    Managing and supporting locks and door hardware within a facility is a big responsibility. A building’s security needs to change over time as occupancy and use demands evolve, which can make it even more challenging. Read Now

  • Report: 78 Percent of CISOs Seeing Significant Impact from AI-Powered Cyber Threats

    Darktrace recently unveiled its 2025 State of AI Cybersecurity report. The findings reveal that 78% of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) surveyed say that AI-powered threats are having a significant impact on their organizations, a 5% increase1 from 2024. While an increasing number of CISOs report feeling a significant impact from AI threats, more than 60% now say that they are adequately prepared to defend against these threats, an increase of nearly 15% year-over-year. However, insufficient AI knowledge and skills and a shortage of personnel and talent continue to be listed as the two top inhibitors to a successful defense. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.