In discussions about tougher laws to protect against terrorist attacks, Bettina Singer, state commissioner for data protection and freedom of information in North Rhine-Westphalia, urges caution. It is certain that “the privacy of many innocent people would also be affected” if the police were given more powers to use facial recognition software for searches. So far this draft is limited to police officers. The plans have already been welcomed by North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst.
Advertisement
According to Gayk, it is important to maintain a balance between freedom and security. “It is important to detect if we do not want to move into a state of surveillance,” Gayk said. Therefore, it is important to describe “precise and narrow limits for such search tools” if large-scale data collection is to be allowed in public spaces.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser (SPD) is planning a law that will give authorities new search options. In particular, it aims to enable the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Police Office to search the Internet for images and photographs – with the help of artificial intelligence and biometrics.
Don’t neglect data security
Data protection advocates repeatedly warn not to neglect data protection and the right to privacy, especially in light of current developments, Geck points out, and demand precise limits for such methods. It is thus clearly positioning itself against a hasty expansion of state surveillance measures and stressing the need to further protect civil liberties.
Bavaria wants to be a role model
Data protection advocates have long been warning that the presumption of innocence would be lost if police could use AI to sift through massive amounts of data.
While the police in Bavaria currently want to use the Vera software (Cross-Procedural Research and Analysis Platform) that exists specifically for such purposes, and data protection advocates and civil society criticize these plans and the error-proneness of such systems, Bavaria is already coming up with new plans. The state interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, calls for the use of facial recognition in real time for Bavaria. However, the federal interior ministry is not pursuing such plans.
According to Herrmann, the police urgently need more options to find criminals, including biometric facial recognition. He plans to use all the cameras already installed at train stations or large intersections for these purposes.
(Mac)
