Criticism of Berlin surveillance plans: Data protection in danger!

Criticism of Berlin surveillance plans: Data protection in danger!

The Berlin data protection officer Meike Kamp is critical of the planned changes to the police law, which are promoted by the black and red government coalition in Berlin. In particular, the government is planning to expand video surveillance to crime hotspots, whereby the use of artificial intelligence is also intended for behavior identification. Kamp regards these measures as a significant interference in the fundamental right to informational self -determination and is skeptical about the possible use scenarios of the new technologies.

The worries about occasional interventions in personal rights are large, while the fear of intimidation effects is growing in the population. "I will carefully examine the bill from the CDU and SPD," announced Kamp. The parliamentary tips of the CDU and SPD have already agreed on a novella of the General Security and Ordinary Act (ASOG). Two central aspects of this novella include the expansion of the possibilities for the source telecommunications monitoring (TKÜ), for example in WhatsApp calls, and tightened regulations for the protection of women from violent ex-partners.

Extended measures to protect women

One of the planned laws provides for violent ex-partners for 28 days, instead of the 14 days so far, to prohibit entering the shared apartment. In addition, it should be possible to assign violent people an electronic ankle buffle. Such measures are undisputed in public, but a legal framework is always required to protect the personality rights of those affected.

Video surveillance is a central topic in data protection in Germany and is a persistent critical point. The trend towards expanding video surveillance has increased, and many new camera systems such as motor vehicle mark recognition and automatic face recognition are used. The data protection officer emphasizes that the protection of fundamental rights in such contexts is particularly important and requires real standards to prevent abuse.

legal foundations and requirements

The legal foundations for video surveillance in Germany are the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the specific police law (POG) of the individual federal states. In special cases, the latter allows the police to use video technology, especially at the main crime, which are characterized by increased crimes. Before using video surveillance, milder measures, such as improving lighting or increased police presence, must always be checked in order to protect the proportionality.

The GDPR and the BDSG demand that recorded personal data are destroyed immediately if they are no longer required. In data protection law, video surveillance is highly problematic because it intervenes in personal rights. In addition, many of the new technologies, such as Dash cams or drones, are often not sufficient in accordance with these requirements.