Russia violated a protester’s human rights when it used facial recognition technology to arrest a person after a protest in the Moscow subway, writes Politico.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday, the 4th of July, that the use of facial recognition technology was illegal. The court verdict states: “The use of facial-recognition technology in his case has been incompatible with the ideals and values of a democratic society governed by the rule of law.”
In August 2019, Russian citizen Nikolay Glukhin moved into the Moscow subway holding a realistic-sized cardboard figure of the dissident Konstantin Kotov. Kotov was imprisoned for participating in unauthorized demonstrations. The cardboard figure was holding a placard that read that peaceful protests could be punished by prison terms.
Glukhin was arrested a few days after the subway ride and was charged with unauthorized demonstrating
and fined 20,000 rubles (about 200 euros). The ECHR ruling stated that the processing of Glukhin’s personal data in connection with his peaceful demonstration was particularly intrusive.
The ECHR is subject to the Council of Europe, and Russia was expelled from the 46-nation human rights organization for the invasion of Ukraine in September 2022 and thus stopped participating in the ECHR. Court decisions are binding on member states, however, the court can decide on cases related to Russia and started before the 16th of September, 2022.
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