On 14 September 2022, the European Data Protection Board adopted a statement on the European Commission’s proposal for an EU Police Cooperation Code. This proposal aims to enhance law enforcement cooperation across Member States, in particular the information exchange between the competent authorities. The code is comprised of three main measures: proposal for a Prüm II Regulation, proposal for a Police Information Exchange Directive and the proposal for a Council Recommendation on operational police cooperation.
EDPB Chair Andrea Jelinek said: „While we acknowledge that police cooperation is a key element for the establishment of a well-functioning Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, there are serious risks associated with the processing of individuals’ personal data in criminal matters, especially where this concerns special categories of personal data such as biometrics. The proposals should lay down some essential safeguards to ensure that the proposed measures are necessary and proportionate to the objective of contributing to the internal security of the EU.”
Among others, the EDPB proposes laying down the types and seriousness of crimes that could justify an automated search in the databases of other Member States and making a clear distinction between the personal data of different categories of data subjects, such as convicted criminals, suspects, victims or witnesses in line with Art. 6 of the Law Enforcement Directive (LED).
In addition, the EDPB raises concerns about the envisaged automated searching and exchange of police records by the introduction of the European Police Records Index System (EPRIS) and about the default sharing of personal data with Europol via the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA).
