The federal government wants to allow expanded options for facial recognition in the future and is confirming its plans to do so in an initial package of measures following a deadly knife attack in Solingen. The reason for the planned possibility of facial recognition is to better combat “Islamic extremism.”
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This will give “modern powers” to investigating authorities and allow them to compare biometric data with generally publicly available Internet data with the help of algorithms to more easily identify suspects or wanted people. According to the coalition’s decision, this should be in compliance with the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and data protection requirements.
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“It is a certain malpractice that this has not been allowed until now,” said State Secretary Anja Hajduk, representing Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), at the press conference to present the package of measures. “In this respect, it is an important and extremely timely regulation that we are introducing.” Hajduk stressed: “We have agreed on not only a very balanced and therefore sensible but also a very effective package of measures.”
The Federal Ministry of the Interior, led by Nancy Feser (SPD), already planned a change in the law that would allow the use of facial recognition software for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the federal police. While police representatives support the authorities’ own facial recognition software for law enforcement, critics warn of the risks of total surveillance in public spaces and possible restrictions on freedom of assembly.
Bavaria wants expanded surveillance powers
Palantir’s monitoring software, the Cross-Process Research and Analysis Platform (VERA), will be used in Bavaria from September. The program aims to help investigators access data from different police systems more quickly and identify connections in serious crimes. Bavaria wants to be a role model for other federal states, but the efforts have already received considerable criticism.
In addition, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) advocates expanding the surveillance options of the Bavarian police with the use of live facial recognition. People in public places could be identified with the help of AI and cameras already installed at train stations or large intersections. Herrmann sees no data protection problems in this approach, as photos with no hits would be deleted immediately.
(Mac)
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