According to press reports, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) is working on a law to "strengthen digital investigative powers in police work". The planned use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence included in the draft is an alarming signal. At the same time, key constitutional safeguards such as the requirement for judicial authorisation are to be abolished. eco Chair Oliver Süme comments:
"The last security package had already raised serious questions regarding the protection of fundamental rights and proportionality. Security must not come at the expense of freedom and fundamental rights. Investigative work needs constitutional boundries, not indiscriminate mass surveillance. The use of AI must remain clearly limited, transparent and controllable by law. Full biometric recording on the Internet is contrary to fundamental rights.”
Concerns regarding profiling in the context of database matching and AI-driven analysis must be taken seriously. It must be ensured that no data from protected or private areas is collected. Trust is built through transparent procedures, legal control and comprehensible decisions. A critical and public debate is needed on the rules we want to set for ourselves," Süme continues.
eco therefore calls on the German federal government not to submit this draft into the parliamentary process. "What is needed instead is a serious political and societal debate on how new technologies can be designed in accordance with our constitution and the values of a free, digital society," Oliver Süme urges.
