SCHWARZ V. BOCHUM, 17.10.2014 (“SCHWARZ”)

Lawful basis: It is essential for citizens of the EU to own a passport in order to travel to a third country, and a passport must contain fingerprints. Therefore, citizens are not free to object to processing of their fingerprints, and thus persons applying for passports cannot be deemed to have consented to that processing. (¶ 32)

First of all, concerning the condition requiring the consent of persons applying for passports before their fingerprints can be taken, it should be noted that, as a general rule, it is essential for citizens of the Union to own a passport in order, for example, to travel to non-member countries and that that document must contain fingerprints pursuant to Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2252/2004. Therefore, citizens of the Union wishing to make such journeys are not free to object to the processing of their fingerprints. In those circumstances, persons applying for passports cannot be deemed to have consented to that processing.