This talk will discuss the results of the EU funded project “Towards the European Level Exchange of Facial Images“ (TELEFI project). This project studied how facial recognition is used to investigate crime across EU Member States. In addition, particular consideration was given to the potential for implementing the exchange of facial images within the Prüm framework.
Currently, DNA profiles, fingerprints and vehicle registration data are exchanged within the Prüm framework for combating cross-border crime, terrorism and illegal migration. The Prüm system has been successfully employed for many years and it had reached a point where the introduction of new modalities, including facial images, were considered.
The TELEFI project was conducted by a group of six European institutions: Estonian Forensic Science Institute, Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, Latvian State Forensic Science Bureau, Netherlands Forensic Institute and Swedish National Forensic Centre.
This talk will discuss the administrative and law enforcement use of facial recognition in criminal investigation, will provide a summary of the project, and present the recommendations for the EU Member States.
Curriculum vitæ
Prof. Dr. Didier Meuwly currently shares his time between The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), where he is a principal scientist, and the University of Twente, where he holds the chair of Forensic Biometrics. He specializes in the automation and validation of the probabilistic evaluation and investigation of forensic evidence, and more specifically from biometric traces.
Andra Sirgmets MSc. has received a MSc degree in Molecular Biochemistry from the Tallinn University. From 2008, she has been employed by the Estonian Forensic Science Institute, where she is a Forensic Expert specialised in forensic DNA profiling. She has years of experience working with the Prüm DNA exchange and she has been involved with several research and development projects. During 2014–2015, she was an External Consultant for the United Nations Development Programme. From 2019 until 2021 she was the Project Manager of the EU funded TELEFI project.
