EU-India dialogue on ethics of biometrics promoted by the RISE project

On the 24th and 25th of September 2009, the EU funded initiative RISE (Rising pan-European and International Awareness on Biometrics and Security Ethics) organized a high level event in New Delhi which focused on communalities and differences between the EU and India regarding the vital policy issues of security, data protection and privacy.

The meeting was hosted by the Data Security Council of India and provided an excellent opportunity for the RISE partners, for EU and US Agencies and for selected Asian stakeholders to discuss on issues related to data protection and privacy in India, as well as on concerns on the use of biometric data.

The conference was closed by Hon’ble Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of State, Ministry of Communications & IT, and saw the participation of other high level Indian personalities such as delegates of leading IT/BPO companies, biometrics and security product vendors, Supreme Court, Senior Officers from Delhi Police, Income Tax Department and of the Department of Information Technology of the government. The EU institutions were represented by the EC Delegation in India and the European Data Protection Supervisor. Participants also included European, Indian and US research centers and companies. The event saw an active participation from about 200 participants.

This event was also conceived as the preparatory meeting of the 3rd International Conference on ethics and biometrics, which will be held in Hong Kong on January 2010. The HK Conference will enlarge to Asia and ensure continuity to the international dialogue on ethics and biometrics already instigated by the two previous conferences organized in Brussels by the European Commission (2005) and in Washington by the US Department of Homeland Security (2006). For more information on the HK Conference, please visit the website of the event http://www4.comp.polyu.edu.hk/~iceb

Keywords

BIOMETRICS, DATA PROTECTION, PRIVACY