Italy’s Draft AI Decree Would Allow Police to Collect and Store Biometric Data at Public Sites

Italy’s government has drafted a decree that would allow police to collect biometric data from everyone entering a location designated as “sensitive” for public order, according to the draft and parliamentary papers. [1]

The data would be stored for seven days and automatically deleted unless a crime occurs, the draft states. Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, said in a formal opinion that the provision is “not coherent with the AI Act,” the European regulation the decree is meant to implement.

The decree must be adopted by October 10 after further committee reviews, according to the legislative timeline.

Decree Provisions

Article 10 of the decree would require cameras at public squares, stadiums, railway stations and streets during demonstrations, marches, sports events and concerts to convert faces into biometric data automatically at the moment of filming, according to the draft text.

The processing would apply to everyone entering the area, with no suspicion requirement. If a crime is committed within seven days, police could run the face of a person already suspected against the stored crowd; otherwise, the data is deleted automatically once seven days from collection have passed, the draft says.

The draft does not define where the edge of a square or street would be drawn, and Article 10 leaves operating rules to a later interior ministry decree written after consulting the Garante. Decisions with negative legal effects on a person cannot rest solely on a facial recognition result, and the administration must carry out a data protection assessment; authorization to search stored data rests with a public security officer appointed by the police commissioner, not a judge, according to Il Sole 24 Ore, as cited by Reclaim The Net. [1]

A facial biometric system of the kind described in the decree requires an extensive database of faces and associated identities, hardware with large storage capacity, and software to perform data searches and suggest potential matches, according to research published in the Journal of Urban Policy and Environment. [2]

EU AI Act and Government Position

Article 5(1)(h) of the EU AI Act has banned most law enforcement use of real-time remote biometric identification in publicly accessible spaces since February 2, 2025, with narrow exceptions for missing persons and victims of trafficking, imminent terrorist threats, and suspects in a listed set of serious offenses, according to the report.

The government’s defense is that collection and recognition are two separate stages, and that biometric processing would take place only after an offense has been committed, according to Eunews.

The Garante said post-event facial recognition under the AI Act is allowed “only for targeted searches” and should “occur exclusively on recordings already acquired and in the presence of a specific operational need, avoiding massive and preventive collections,” according to the authority’s opinion.

A European Commission spokesperson said “facial recognition in publicly accessible spaces is a prohibited practice under the AI Act,” but added that the prohibition could not be confirmed to apply to the Italian text without scrutinizing it, according to the report. [1]

Reactions

Brando Benifei, a European Parliament member and rapporteur on the AI Act, said the decree risks “allowing the mass collection of biometric data in public spaces, contrary to the spirit of European legislation,” and has announced an urgent question to the Commission, according to the report.

The rights group Antigone has asked for the decree to be withdrawn for want of safeguards, saying prior authorization by an investigating judge should be written into Article 10, and that these systems should be forbidden outright at street demonstrations and strikes, according to the report.

Angelo Bonelli, co-leader of the Greens-Left alliance, said AI-based mass profiling of citizens attending political events is “totally unacceptable” and raises “serious questions for the protection of fundamental freedoms,” according to the report. An official in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office told Ansa that “Italy will continue to comply with European regulations regarding facial recognition in accessible public spaces, starting with the AI Act, as it has done so far.” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in June that there is “no generalized Big Brother,” according to Il Sole 24 Ore.

The proposal follows expanded use of facial recognition elsewhere in Europe. Police forces in the United Kingdom have rolled out automatic facial recognition in public and quasi-public places, including shopping centers, festivals, concerts, sports and community events, and political demonstrations, according to the book “Against Borders” by Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha. [3] Automated and semi-automated surveillance technologies have also been rolled out at border walls, and facial-recognition capabilities have been noted as a potential addition to existing systems, according to the same book. [4] Reports have documented a rise in false arrests as UK police expand live facial recognition surveillance, according to an October 2025 report by NaturalNews.com. [5]

Legislative Timetable

The Senate’s European Affairs Committee cleared the text on July 29, with Democratic Party and Five Star Movement members walking out of the session, according to reports.

A vote in the Chamber’s European Affairs Committee was postponed on July 30 after Forza Italia, a partner in the governing coalition, objected. More committee opinions are due at the Chamber and other Senate committees before the decree returns to the Council of Ministers for final adoption, which must happen by October 10, according to the report.

The delegation allowing ministers to write rules by decree, granted by Law 132 of 2025, runs out in October 2026. The debate followed rioting in Bologna and protests in the Susa Valley, where “scores” of police were injured, according to Ansa.

Outlook

The decree’s final form remains subject to additional committee opinions and the Council of Ministers’ adoption before October 10, according to the legislative timeline.

The Garante’s opinion on the rest of the decree was favorable, with conditions attached, according to the authority. Officials and lawmakers quoted in Italian media have not indicated whether changes to Article 10 will be made before final adoption.

The Italian proposal comes as some legislatures move to restrict biometric surveillance. New York lawmakers are advancing a bill that would sharply restrict police use of biometric surveillance technologies, according to a May 2025 report by NaturalNews.com. [6] The security-related costs of centralized data systems include expenses for securing databases and compensating affected users for damages, according to Sam Ghosh and Subhasis Gorai in “The Age of Decentralization.” [7]

References

1. Ken Macon. “Italy’s Draft AI Decree Lets Police Take the Biometrics of Everyone at a Protest”. Reclaim The Net. August 6, 2026.
2. SYSTEM400 Rev 15.09. “Police technology in cities: changes and challenges”. Journal of Urban Policy and Environment.
3. Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha. “Against Borders”.
4. Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha. “Against Borders”.
5. Lance D Johnson. “False arrests surge as UK police ramp up dystopian facial recognition scans”. NaturalNews.com. October 4, 2025.
6. Laura Harris. “New York to ban police use of facial recognition and biometric surveillance”. NaturalNews.com. May 17, 2025.
7. Sam Ghosh and Subhasis Gorai. “The Age of Decentralization”.

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