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BSI Secures Accreditation to Assess High Risk AI Biometric Systems

In this expert interview, Manuela Gazzard explains why BSI’s accreditation matters for high-risk biometric AI and building trust.

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BSI has reached an important milestone in shaping the future of trustworthy AI. On 24 March 2026, we obtained temporary accreditation from the Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA) to conduct conformity assessments for high risk biometric AI systems under the EU AI Act. This positions BSI as one of the first organizations able to provide independent assurance for some of the most sensitive and fast evolving AI technologies in Europe.

Biometric AI (including facial recognition, voice analysis and behavioural profiling) offers huge commercial potential. However, the use of this new technology leads to significant questions around fairness, transparency, and fundamental rights. Under the EU AI Act, these technologies are classed as high risk, meaning providers will need robust evidence that their systems are safe, reliable and legally compliant before entering the European market.

BSI’s new accreditation enables us to assess systems such as:

Remote biometric identification, including AI used to identify individuals at a distance
Emotion recognition systems, which interpret biometric data to infer emotional states
Biometric categorization tools, which group people based on physical or behavioural traits

This development also strengthens BSI’s broader AI assurance offering, including our AI Performance Service, which tests algorithms and datasets to ensure systems behave as intended in real-world conditions.

To mark this milestone, we sat down with Manuela Gazzard, President of BSI Regulatory Services, to explore what these developments mean. In the interview, she discusses the growing complexity of global regulation, the importance of strong data governance, and why transparency and accountability must be built in from the start. She also explains how early alignment with standards, such as ISO/IEC 42001, and AI testing, such as BSI’ AI Performance’ algorithm and dataset testing service, helps organizations reduce risk and build long-term trust.

As Manuela notes, “Trust is built on proof”; and with this accreditation, BSI is ready to provide the rigorous, independent assessment, the “proof”, organizations need to bring responsible, high impact AI to the EU market with confidence.