Note for Court of Justice of the European Union, 26 January, 2023, (C‑205/21 VS v Ministerstvo na vatreshnite raboti, Glavna direktsia za borba s organiziranata prestapnost: Indiscriminate and generalised collection of biometric and genetic data by law enforcement authorities in the EU is not allowed)

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decided that the systematic collection of biometric and genetic data of any accused individual in order for them to be entered in police records in an indiscriminate and generalised manner is not in compliance with the Union law. After summarising the judgment, this case note first questions whether the CJEU misclassified the personal data in question as genetic data. Then, it points out that the condition enshrined in Article 10 of the Law Enforcement Directive that allows sensitive data processing by law enforcement authorities only where strictly necessary is considered by the CJEU as a specific manifestation of lato sensu proportionality assessment. Considering that law enforcement authorities in the EU rely more and more on (biometric) technologies to prevent and fight against crimes, it concludes by speculating on some of the potential implications of this interpretation.