Proposal of a privacy-enhancing fingerprint capture for a decentralized police database system from a legal perspective using the example of Germany and the EU

Abstract

Innovations in biometric and forensic technology promise new use cases for the fight against crime and threats to public security. For example, the police will be able to use a new scanner to capture fingerprint traces from luggage at the airport to detect dangerous manipulations and identify known criminals. Despite these potentially great benefits, such systems also entail risks for society. One aspect of such systems is the biometric and forensic database used to compare fingerprints captured with a wanted list. This paper explores a possible decentralized database system as a solution to risks entailed by central systems. It uses the German and EU law as an example to justify technology design decisions on the basis of the legal requirements.