EU rights body warns police AI surveillance risks minorities

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has warned that police use of AI-powered surveillance technology risks victimizing peaceful protesters and ethnic minorities across member states. The agency stated in a new report that algorithmic bias and opaque deployment practices could exacerbate discrimination against vulnerable groups during public assemblies. Officials highlighted that current safeguards remain insufficient to prevent automated systems from disproportionately targeting specific demographics based on flawed training data or proxy variables. The warning comes as EU institutions finalize implementation guidelines for the AI Act, which classifies certain biometric categorization systems as high-risk. Civil liberties advocates have cited the report to demand moratoriums on predictive policing tools pending independent audits. Law enforcement agencies maintain that such technologies are essential for resource allocation and crime prevention. The FRA urged member states to conduct mandatory fundamental rights impact assessments before deploying any AI surveillance infrastructure in public spaces.