Peculiarities of Legal Regulating Biometric Personal Data

Abstract

Article analyzes the problem of correlation of legal regulation of biometric and sensitive categories ofpersonal data. The author proposes a number of distinctive criteria, enabling to distinct between thecategories. The paper also presents the problem of possibility of processing biometric personal datawhich was made publicly available by data subject. The author analyzes Russian and foreign legaldoctrine, statutory acts, Russian decrees of the court in the field of legal regulation of special and biometriccategories of personal data. A comparison is made between the list of information contained in specialand biometric category of personal data and the possibility of processing such data without data subject’sknowledge. The analysis shows that although there are many approaches in legal doctrine and legislationof foreign countries of regulation of biometric personal data, introduction to the Russian legislation specialregulation of this type of personal data is expedient. The main distinction between biometric and specialcategory of personal data, in addition to various preconditions of their introduction to the legislation —prohibition of discrimination and restriction of identification of data subject, it is also a list of cases, whendata controller is able to process personal data without subject’s consent. Inadmissibility of the processingof biometric personal data which were made publicly available provides the possibility to protect informationwhich spread couldn’t be exercised in appropriate way. Introduction of subjective (goal) approach of biometricpersonal data processing provides possibility to make more appropriate distinction between different typesof personal data. Information about person would be treated as biometric personal data if it is used by thedata controller for the identification of person. Application of such approach nowadays allows to takeinto consideration interests of subject and controller of personal data.