What is an emotion recognition system?
An emotion recognition system is an AI system that identifies or infers the emotions or intentions of natural persons on the basis of their biometric data — facial expressions, voice patterns, keystrokes, gait or other physiological signals (AI Act, Article 3(39)). The Act treats the technology with unusual severity: use in workplaces and educational institutions is a prohibited practice under Article 5, applicable since 2 February 2025, save for narrow medical or safety purposes.
Outside the ban
- Remaining permitted uses (e.g. customer-facing analytics) are high-risk under Annex III, with the postponed compliance runway to December 2027;
- Persons exposed must be notified under Article 50 from August 2026;
- Inferring emotions from typed text alone (not biometric data) generally falls outside the definition.
The KVKK overlay
In Türkiye, the biometric inputs are special-category data — KVKK’s biometrics jurisprudence (including the 2026 decisions) applies regardless of the AI Act. HR-tech products should treat employee emotion analytics as effectively off the table in both jurisdictions. See our Article 5 guide.