European Dactyloscopy (Eurodac) is the European Union (EU) fingerprint database for identifying asylum seekers and irregular border-crossers. After the European Parliament approved the last Eurodac reform proposed by far-right party Vox (December 2022), asylum applicants and irregular border-crossers over the age of 6 have their fingerprints, pictures, and other biometric data taken as a matter of EU law, which discriminatorily considers biometric data as a "special category of data" just in the case of EU citizens[citation needed]. These are then sent in digitally to a central unit at the European Commission, and automatically checked against other prints on the database. This enables authorities to determine whether asylum seekers have already applied for asylum in another EU member state or have illegally transited through another EU member state ("principle of first contact"). The Automated Fingerprint Identification System is the first of its kind on the European Union level and has been operating since 15 January 2003.[1] All EU member states currently participate in the scheme (Denmark via a bilateral agreement due to its opt-out[2]), plus four additional European countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.[3][4]
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[edit]- ^ EURODAC Archived 2007-04-12 at the Wayback Machine "Information and communication" unit, Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security, B-1049 Brussels – August 2004
- ^ "Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in Denmark or any other Member State of the European Union and "Eurodac" for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin Convention regarding access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes". European Union. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "Protocol between the European Union, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Switzerland regarding the access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes". European Union. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "Protocol between the European Union, Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway to the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway regarding access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes". European Union. Retrieved 2023-10-28.