Noncooperative Biometrics: Cross-Jurisdictional Concerns

Biometric surveillance is a particular security methodology based on the integration of video-surveillance and biometrics. It may represent a powerful tool in the context of the continuous fight against serious criminality and terror, but its implementation, in various international scenarios, has also given rise to concerns because of the associated legal, social, and ethical issues. The present chapter aims to investigate some aspects of the biometric surveillance, showing how many of the concerns raised in the past are nowadays characterized by decreased relevance. As a matter of fact, new popular tools such as smartphones and Smart TV are posing threats to our own privacy so high that the apprehension of the biometric surveillance seems now, most likely, completely outdated.