Without a face: why the state needs your biometrics

At the end of 2022, a law on biometric data was adopted in Russia, which the authorities call "the law on the prohibition of the compulsory collection of biometrics", but in fact it centralizes the collection and storage of biometric information of citizens in the Unified Biometric System (ESS). This opens up wide opportunities for special services and fraudsters, as millions of samples of faces and voices of Russians from private databases will be forcibly transferred to the state system. How biometrics work, why EBS was unpopular, and what risks the new law will lead to, including potential leakages and simplification of surveillance of citizens.