Data protection and privacy issues concerning facial image processing in public spaces

The European Council has concluded in October 2013 that “It is important to foster the trust of citizens and businesses in the digital economy. The timely adoption of a strong EU General Data Protection framework and the Cyber-Security Directive is essential for the completion of the Digital Single Market by 2015.” This paper discusses the collection and processing of personal data in the context of the EU-funded ADMOS project whose aim is to detect in real time whether or not a person has noticed an advert and, if so, their profile in terms of gender and age. We review the issues and current legislation on the processing of personal data in the context of information systems, and how the project has incorporated a solution that fully satisfies current and proposed legislation on data protection.