Biometrics, informational self-determination and the protection of personal data

Abstract

This paper studies the legal protection of biometric data, based on a criticism of neo­liberal governmental policies. After analyzing the legal rules concerning personal data and a spe­cific right to informational self-determination, we point out that the treatment of such data by the state is an expanding phenomenon. We then identified a connection between the requirement of consent for the processing of personal data and the policies of neoliberal governments. Such rationale is verified in the expansion of surveil­lance by states and the markets. In this sense, instead of merely opposing the policies of a neo­liberal government with its emphasis on an “in­dividual consent” for data processing, the paper identifies the signs of expansion of the uses of biometric data by the state, whereas detecting some convergences under the mechanisms of security of neoliberal biopolitics.