ItalyTravel and aviation2024–2025SEA Milan Airports
FaceBoarding at Milan Linate Airport
SEA stopped FaceBoarding at Milan Linate, and Italy's privacy regulator later ruled the processing unlawful
Problem
SEA wanted passengers to pass security and boarding checks faster using facial recognition instead of repeatedly presenting travel documents. It said the optional service also supported airport security.
Approach
The service covered by the regulator's decision operated from May 2024 to September 2025. The Garante ordered a suspension after finding inadequate safeguards for biometric processing, including the risk of processing passengers who had not enrolled. SEA stopped processing on 16 September 2025 and subsequently deleted the passenger data; in March 2026, the Garante declared the processing unlawful. SEA had maintained that it complied with the rules and said it was cooperating with the regulator.
Results
Takeaway
Voluntary enrollment did not resolve the regulator's objections to how the airport collected and controlled biometric data.
Categories
- Industry
- Travel and aviation
- Business function
- Customer serviceProduction and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovationProduct and service innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Regulator, audit or court
Sources
Source summaries
The final decision declared SEA's processing unlawful and recorded its cessation and subsequent data deletion. It identified 24,550 affected people and documented SEA's defenses and remedial measures.
Reuters reported the suspension and the regulator's concern about passengers who had not enrolled. SEA disputed noncompliance and hoped to restore the service.
Full details are in the original sources.
