EU Parliament votes to create biometrics database of 350 million people

The EU's new biometric database will will unify personal data on border control, migration and visas

The European Parliament has approved plans to create a massive biometrics database of 350 million EU citizens and visitors. The Common Identity Repository (CIR) is intended to help simplify the role of border and law enforcement agencies.

The biometrics database was approved last week via two separate votes, with each one receiving more than 75 per cent approval.

The first vote, for unifying multiple systems used for issues related to borders and visas, was adopted by 511 to 123. The second vote, which was for streamlining systems for judicial, law enforcement, asylum matters and migration, was approved by 510 to 130.

Nine members didn't participate in both votes.

The new unified system will include the Schengen Information System, according to ZDNet, as well as the Visa Information System and Eurodac. It will also take in three new databases, namely, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, the Entry/Exit System, and the European Criminal Records System for Third Country Nationals.

The new systems will aggregate the identity and biometric records of both EU, as well as non-EU citizens, and will be made available to immigration and other border control agencies.

The database will aggregate the details of more than 350 million people, including their identifying information, such as names, passport number, dates of birth, as well as biometrics like fingerprints and facial scans.

The new system is intended to improve the ability of border and law enforcement officials to find details for an individual by scanning just a single database rather than querying multiple databases. The CIR system will also grant officials access to an individual's verified identity through a single fingerprint scan.

The CIR system, once created, will be among the world's largest people-tracking database. Presently, India's Aadhar system is the world's largest biometric identity database. It contains fingerprints, iris and facial scans for more than 1.16 billion enrolled citizens.

The CIR system, since it was publically announced last year, has received significant criticism from several privacy advocates in Europe.

According to Statewatch, an advocacy group that monitors the development of the EU state and civil liberties, the CIR system would eventually lead to the "creation of a Big Brother centralised EU state database".

The EU Parliament and European Council have, however, assured people of taking all necessary steps to ensure that citizens' rights to privacy are adequately safeguarded and that access to data by law enforcement agencies is properly regulated.