Fazer's facial recognition plans are met with mixed reactions.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, new powers for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Federal Police are to be introduced through several changes to the law. The use of facial recognition software is to be made possible in the areas of terrorism and serious and organized crime.
Specifically, this involves powers for biometric internet comparison of image data and automated data analysis of police data. The ministry cited, for example, image material "in the area of Islamic terrorism" to identify suspects.
The digital policy spokesman of the FDP parliamentary group, Maximilian Funke-Kaiser, told the news agency AFP that Faeser's bill had not been coordinated within the federal government and had not yet been submitted to the Bundestag. "It remains unclear how these plans can be reconciled with the clear provisions of the coalition agreement - such as the rejection of biometric surveillance in public spaces and the protection of the right to anonymity on the internet."
Politicians from the Greens also expressed similar criticism. From Notz told the editorial network Germany (RND) that it should be noted that the coalition agreement contains a clear rejection of biometric recording for surveillance purposes in public spaces. The surveillance methods proposed by Faeser would also raise "fundamental constitutional questions." Even those who voluntarily seek the public sphere of a social network do not thereby give up their constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The spokesman for the Green parliamentary group in the Interior Committee, Marcel Emmerich, told the RND that it must be prevented that "highly sensitive data of innocent people are massively recorded and evaluated by AI systems - often through opaque algorithms - across the board."
Markus Beckedahl, the founder of the platform Netzpolitik.org, assumed that "the project is not constitutional." It would "massively restrict our rights," he told the RND.
The German Criminal Police Association (BDK) welcomed Faeser's plans. "We fully support the proposal," said BDK chairman Dirk Peglow to the RND. The plan has "exactly the right intention." It cannot be that "the police authorities must exclude the internet from their investigations of unknown suspects, while investigative research networks can use it." The legal basis and technical prerequisites for online investigation must be created quickly, Peglow demanded.
Faeser's initiative is also seen as a reaction to the case of Daniela Klette, who was sought as a RAF terrorist. She was arrested in February after living undetected in Berlin for years. A journalist had already identified her months earlier using facial recognition software because she had posted private photos online. Investigators had complained about missing powers for such research on the internet.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Police will gain new powers, allowing the use of facial recognition software in areas of terrorism and serious crime, as per the changes proposed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The German Criminal Police Association (BDK) firmly supports this initiative, arguing that it's essential to equip law enforcement with the necessary tools to investigate criminal activities on the internet.
