Europe was already in the midst of a high-stakes debate over the ethics and legality of facial recognition technologies and mass surveillance - which the coronavirus pandemic has now brought to the fore.
"The EU has been a haven for unlawful biometric experimentation and surveillance," according to the Brussels-based NGO European Digital Rights (EDRi).
And Belgium is so far the only member state which stated facial recognition is in breach of national law, although Back our independent journalism by becoming a supporting memberGet EU news that matters
Elena is EUobserver's Managing Editor. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.
Elena is EUobserver's Managing Editor. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.