Analysis of legal and employment implications of automated emotion recognition systems

Current legal regulations do not offer real protection to employees against companies that use automated emotion recognition systems, which combine biometrics, algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deduce or detect moods or intentions. This is one of the conclusions emerging from the publication of a book on this subject by a lecturer at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). Facial structure, fingerprints or voiceprints, retina patterns, finger and hand veins or even heartbeats are personal data that, if properly processed, can help detect fatigue, stress, lack of concentration, happiness or sadness. "It could be said that this technology is a modern version of the polygraph or lie detector," says researcher Ana Belén Muñoz Ruiz, an associate professor in UC3M's Private Social and International Law Department, who recently published the book "Biometría y sistemas automatizados de reconocimiento de emociones: Implicaciones Jurídicos-Laborales", in which she analyses the uses of this technology in the workplace and the employment implications for workers. These systems increase companies' capacity to analyse and exploit employees' personal data. "Above all, I am concerned about whether, through this technology, companies could learn about the health data of their workers for non-preventive purposes," says the researcher. The European Union is currently working on the Artificial Intelligence Act that will introduce limits and guarantees against the use of this technology, which is expected to come into force at the end of 2026.