# Recital (15)

The notion of ‘biometric identification’ referred to in this Regulation should be defined as the automated recognition 
of physical, physiological and behavioural human features such as the face, eye movement, body shape, voice, 
prosody, gait, posture, heart rate, blood pressure, odour, keystrokes characteristics, for the purpose of establishing an 
individual’s identity by comparing biometric data of that individual to stored biometric data of individuals in 
a reference database, irrespective of whether the individual has given its consent or not. This excludes AI systems 
intended to be used for biometric verification, which includes authentication, whose sole purpose is to confirm that 
a specific natural person is the person he or she claims to be and to confirm the identity of a natural person for the 
sole purpose of having access to a service, unlocking a device or having security access to premises.
Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1).

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Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act) as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, consolidated text of 27 July 2026 (Official Journal of the EU). This page is AI-generated legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the Official Journal.
Canonical: https://euaiactlaw.com/recital/15