Italy privacy watchdog halts facial recognition at Milan airport

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's privacy watchdog has temporarily suspended the use of facial recognition technology at Milan's Linate airport pending the conclusion of a long-running data protection investigation, documents showed on Wednesday.

Facial recognition screenings at airports have raised global concerns about the potential misuse of passenger data.

The privacy watchdog in Italy, known as Garante, justified the suspension by saying there were insufficient safeguards at Linate to stop the use of facial recognition on passengers who had not signed up to it.

Its decision, dated September 11, was made public on Wednesday.

On its website, Milan airports operator SEA says its "Faceboarding" technology is "safe, simple and fast", allowing passengers to go through security checkpoints without showing their passports or identity cards.

On Wednesday, reacting to Garante's measure, SEA said it complies with current regulations and was working with the watchdog to clarify all aspects of data processing.

It said it hoped to resume the optional facial recognition service, which is only available to adult passengers who request it, as soon as possible, saying it enhances airport security and speeds up procedures.

(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Alvise Armellini and Ed Osmond)

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