(281)
The use of biometric data for the categorisation of natural persons is an essential element for the prohibition to apply (see above section 8.2.1. and 7.2.1.d)).
(282)
Furthermore, for the prohibition to apply, natural persons must be ‘individually’ categorised. If this is not the purpose or outcome of the biometric categorisation, the prohibition does not apply, for example if a whole group is categorised without looking at the individual. Examples of individual categorisation include:
- AI systems that conduct ‘Attribute Estimation’ (count demographics), including for example ‘age, gender, ethnicity’, on the basis of for example bodily features, such as face, height, or skin, eye and hair colour (or a combination thereof).
- AI systems capable of categorising individuals and singling them out based on a specific feature (e.g., a scar under the right eye), or because they have a tattoo on their right hand. These use-cases are examples for individual biometric categorisation. For these examples to fall within the prohibition of Article 5(1)(g) AI Act all conditions of that provision must be fulfilled.