(18) The notion of ‘emotion recognition system’ referred to in this Regulation should be defined as an AI system for the purpose of identifying or inferring emotions or intentions of natural persons on the basis of their biometric data. The notion refers to emotions or intentions such as happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, disgust, embarrassment, excitement, shame, contempt, satisfaction and amusement. It does not include physical states, such as pain or fatigue, including, for example, systems used in detecting the state of fatigue of professional pilots or drivers for the purpose of preventing accidents. This does also not include the mere detection of readily apparent expressions, gestures or movements, unless they are used for identifying or inferring emotions. Those expressions can be basic facial expressions, such as a frown or a smile, or gestures such as the movement of hands, arms or head, or characteristics of a person’s voice, such as a raised voice or whispering.
Recital 18: The notion of ‘emotion recognition system’ referred to in this
Recital 18, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689
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Mechanically consolidated from the official OJ texts of Regulations (EU) 2024/1689 and 2026/1744 (the Digital Omnibus, in force 27 July 2026); unofficial pending the official EUR-Lex consolidation. Study aid, not legal advice; the official texts on EUR-Lex are authoritative.