Common Identity Repository (base of biometric data)

2019: Beginning of creation

At the end of April, 2019 the European Parliament approved creation of the world's largest biometric database to simplify identification of terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants.

A system under the name Common Identity Repository (CIR) will connect the existing regulatory systems of the EU for control over all aspects of life of Europeans, from trips before transition through border. The new platform should integrate the separate databases including information about more than 35 million citizens of the EU and other countries, including passport numbers and dates of birth.

The representative of the European Parliament noted in the statement that a new system will provide to police officers, frontier guards, the staff of migration office and consulate more quick, systematic and full access to information systems of the EU. The made changes will allow security service specialists to compare fingerprints and other biometric information from several databases and to identify people who are registered under several names in different bases.

Europe creates the world's largest base of biometric data

Creation of the database was approved on two votes: on one officials solved whether to integrate systems used for the solution of visa and migration questions (511 for, 123 against, 9 refrained), on another voted for rationalization of the systems connected with law-enforcement, judicial and migration questions (510 for, 130 against, 9 refrained).

However despite broad support of officials of the European Parliament, the new database underwent criticism from defenders of confidentiality who consider it the next step to appearance of the Big Brother. Anyway, similar databases already exist – for example, the base used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the USA, and Indian the Aadhaar database.^[1]

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