GDPR Enforcement: How EU Regulators Are Shaping AI Governance
(Financier Worldwide Magazine, Feb 17, 2026)
EU regulators are using the GDPR as a primary enforcement tool for biometric AI—especially facial recognition and other biometric identification systems—well ahead of full AI Act enforcement, with investigations, corrective orders, and major penalties for unlawful image scraping and biometric processing. The article highlights continued regulator focus on legal basis, transparency, data minimization, DPIAs, and controls over automated decision-making, while warning that uneven DPA capacity across the EU can lead to fragmented compliance expectations for biometric deployments.
[Video] How ICE Uses Facial Recognition in the Streets
(Al Jazeera, Feb 17, 2026)
ICE agents are using the Mobile Fortify facial recognition app to scan faces in the field and check a person’s immigration status. The report frames this real-time biometric identification capability as expanding identity checks beyond fixed checkpoints, intensifying concerns about pervasive “checkpoint society” surveillance.
Met Police Deploys E-Bikes, Drones and Live Facial Recognition to Catch Phone Thieves
(The Independent, Feb 17, 2026)
London’s Metropolitan Police is expanding operations against phone theft using live facial recognition (LFR) alongside drones and high-speed e-bikes, with LFR positioned as a tool to spot individuals of interest in public areas and support arrests. The deployment highlights the continued scaling of real-time biometric identification in everyday policing—along with ongoing questions around safeguards, watchlist governance, and the broader privacy impact of LFR-enabled enfo
Whole Foods to Rip Out Payment Method After Major Backlash — Change Hits All Checkouts in June
(The U.S. Sun, Feb 17, 2026)
Whole Foods Market plans to remove Amazon One palm-based biometric payments from its U.S. stores by June 3, citing limited customer adoption amid privacy and security concerns about storing and using palm biometrics. Amazon says customer data tied to Amazon One will be securely deleted after the service ends, while the technology may continue in some healthcare check-in settings.
Security Key to Rolling Out Workplace Biometric Tracking
(NBR, Feb 17, 2026)
Workplace use of biometric processing—especially facial recognition—is expanding as employers increase monitoring of staff, including remote and hybrid workers. The piece flags security and privacy compliance as central considerations, pointing to New Zealand’s new biometric-processing privacy code and the broader governance debate highlighted by the Bunnings facial recognition controversy.
