Irish Examiner view: EU must not become surveillance state

From next May, anyone entering or leaving the EU will be biometrically identified and their details logged in a database

Facial recognition technology has many advocates, among them Justice Minister Helen McEntee, but that does not mean we should not be apprehensive about its use. File picture: Ian Waldie/Getty

It is the end of October, with a potentially long winter ahead. Is it too early to be thinking about next summer’s holidays? Obviously not, given that advertisements are already ubiquitous on digital platforms. We can expect the numbers to increase rapidly on TV, radio, and print as the clocks go back and the dark nights are upon us.

Happily, as fully fledged European citizens, we can travel and work anywhere within the EU without the need for visas, permits, and other controls. Not so with our neighbours.