Europol's Data Protection Officer, Daniel Drewer, invited Meike to speak at the 11th EDEN Conference. Meike's presentation slides can be viewed here.

The session entitled "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This – latest trends in facial recognition", moderated by Jan Ellermann, featured talks from the following speakers:

• Peter Fussey
• Meike Ramon
• Damianos Chronakis
• Hiroshi Miyashita
• Carlos Manuel Fernández González

Here's a summary of the panel:

The panel will cover latest developments in facial recognition algorithms and their accuracy, the increasing use of facial recognition in real-time surveillance and in conjunction with other biometric technologies, such as voice and gait recognition.

The use of facial recognition poses potential privacy and data protection issues that arise from the use of facial recognition technology, including the risk of false positives, the potential for bias and discrimination, and the need for clear and transparent governance frameworks.

The panel will also cover the topic of super-recognizers, individuals who have exceptional facial recognition abilities and are being employed by law enforcement agencies worldwide. While super- recognizers could increase accuracy, ethical concerns about their selection, training, and management must be addressed.

In conclusion, the panel aims to explore their potential benefits and risks of facial recognition and the need for clear and transparent governance frameworks to ensure that the technology is used in a way that respects individual privacy and data protection.