European Commission agrees to address privacy concerns over fingerprints database

BRUSSELS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Thursday agreed to address concerns over its plans to include fingerprints in new passports and to create a centralized database for fingerprints.

Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), on Wednesday voiced a series of privacy concerns over the commission plan, particularly on the fingerprints database.

A commission spokesman said Thursday that the commission needs time to analyze Hustinx's comments, which he described as "a substantial study."

But he promised to address privacy concerns.

"Surely, creating big databases poses data-protection challenges. Nobody will deny this," said Friso Roscam Abbing.

"However, precisely because we are aware of those challenges we will do everything that is needed to already address those challenges."

In the architecture of the centralized database, the commission will take into consideration all legitimate data protection concerns, he added.

Hustinx also challenged commission plans to exempt only children below six years old and elderly people over 79 from giving fingerprints.