The story of ten-year-old Kasia, who was kidnapped in Poland and found in Germany after the Polish police introduced a missing person alert in the Schengen Information System (SIS), is proof that there are EU policies that literally save lives.
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The Schengen Information System (SIS) is the largest security and border management information exchange system in the European Union, providing information on wanted or missing persons.
Since 1995, SIS has compensated for the absence of border controls in the Schengen area and has proven to be the most successful tool for cross-border monitoring of security, border management, immigration, customs and police and judicial cooperation in the EU and all Schengen countries. SIS was instrumental in the safe return of Kasia, a girl who was abducted in Poland and found in Germany in less than 24 hours.
True story
At four o’clock in the afternoon, Kasia’s father reported that his daughter had not returned from school. The local police therefore organized a search of the field. By 11 o’clock in the evening, the Polish police issued a missing person alert. These alerts are automatically reported to SIS. That same day, a suspicious car was caught on a traffic camera near Kasia’s house. The local police discovered that the vehicle had a parking ticket and because of that they had the license plates and the person’s name to send to SIS and link them to the missing child. The story then took a positive turn – the kidnapper had a collision with another car in Germany. When the police entered his number plates into the database, they could see that the SIS alert had been activated. Not only was the vehicle wanted, but the driver was a suspect in the kidnapping. The little girl in his car was a missing girl from Poland. With the help of the System, Kasia was returned to her parents.
Thanks to SIS, competent national authorities, such as police and border guards, can enter and consult notifications about wanted persons and objects in a common European database. These people and objects can then be located anywhere within the EU and the Schengen area during police, border or other lawful checks.
After success in maintaining security within the largest area without physical borders in the world, SIS was renewed in 2013. The second generation of SIS was introduced with additional functionalities – for example, the ability to add fingerprints and photos to alerts.
In March 2023, the SIS was further enhanced to include new categories of alerts, upgraded data, including biometric data such as palm prints, fingerprints and DNA records to link with missing person alerts, as well as additional tools to fight international crime and terrorism.
SIS is operational in most EU countries and Schengen countries (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland).
This system does not yet use photo and facial recognition technology. The commission must submit a report on the availability, readiness and reliability of such technology before it is installed. The European Parliament will be consulted on the report. Once this technology is introduced into SIS, countries will be able to use these tools at regular border crossings.
After that, the Commission can adopt delegated acts that determine other circumstances in which photographs and images of faces can be used for identification.