SARI facial recognition system

SARI ('Sistema Automatico di Riconoscimento Immagini', or Automated System for Image Recognition') is a facial recognition system that enables police forces and sports authorities to identify criminals and suspected criminals.

SARI Enterprise

SARI Enterprise is based on a database of 16 million mugshots, nine million of which belong to people identified once by the police, while the other seven million are of individuals who have been stopped repeatedly. The system was piloted for eight months from 2017 by Italy's national police and rolled out in July 2018.

• Concerns were raised about SARI's accuracy and its impact on privacy and legality, largely due to the seemingly high number of mugshots in the police database, which was many more than the police's fingerprint identification system.

SARI Real-time

SARI Real-time uses cameras installed in a particular geographical area and is capable of scanning individuals’ faces in real-time. These images are then compared with an Italian government watch-list database of up to 10,000 faces. The database is available to law enforcement upon request.

• In January 2021, investigative journalist Riccardo Coluccini reported a clash between the interior ministry and the ombudsman’s authority about SARI Real time.

• In April 2021, Italy's privacy regulator Garante declared SARI Real-time illegal on the basis that it lacked a legal basis for the automated processing of biometric data for facial recognition, and that it would effectively establish an 'indiscriminate mass surveillance system.'