EU Ban on Emotion Recognition at Work and in Schools

Article 5(1)(f) prohibits placing on the market, putting into service for this specific purpose, or using AI systems to infer emotions of natural persons in workplace and education institutions. The exception is for systems intended to be put in place or on the market for medical or safety reasons. It is a purpose-specific exception, not a general permission for employers or schools to monitor mood. The Act defines an emotion recognition system as an AI system identifying or inferring emotions or intentions from biometric data. The prohibition does not cover physical states such as pain or fatigue under the statutory definition, and it does not treat detection of readily apparent expressions, gestures, or movements as emotion recognition merely because those signals correlate with feelings. But a vendor’s claim that it measures engagement, attention, enthusiasm, or frustration should be examined by what the system actually infers from biometric data and how it is used. Renaming an emotion score does not decide legal scope. This is a prohibited practice, not a high-risk classification that can be satisfied through documentation, accuracy, or human review. A workplace medical or safety purpose may fall within the exception, but teams need a real, documented fit between that purpose and the system. A general productivity or performance goal is not transformed into a safety purpose by assertion. Other laws, including data protection and employment protections, remain relevant even if an exception applies. The prohibition entered into application on 2 February 2025. Employers, schools, and providers should identify biometric inputs, intended outputs, purpose, affected people, and any onward decisions. If the system infers emotional state in a covered setting, stop and obtain qualified legal review before deployment. Do not collect biometric data simply to test whether a prohibited feature might be useful.