Guidelines on the implementation of the transparency obligations for certain AI systems under Article 50 of the AI Act — C(2026) 5054 final, Annex

(103) Article 3(40) AI Act defines a ‘biometric categorisation system’ as ‘an AI system for the purpose of assigning natural persons to specific categories on the basis of their biometric data, unless it is ancillary to another commercial service and strictly necessary for objective technical reasons’. The detailed explanation of this notion provided in the Commission guidelines on the classification of high-risk AI systems, including its specific elements as well as the practical examples set out therein, are equally relevant in the context of Article 50(3) AI Act.

(104) Importantly, unless prohibited under Article 5(1)(g) AI Act, Article 50(3) AI Act applies to any biometric categorisation systems (e.g. age or gender classification based on biometric data), regardless of whether they fall or not in the scope of high-risk AI systems under the AI Act.