Removing Limits on the Use of Video Surveillance Cameras

Many believe that the political dividing line between parties in Germany runs between the AfD and the CDU/CSU on one side, and the SPD, Greens, and Left Party on the other. However, the many “grand coalitions” between the CDU/CSU and SPD have softened the SPD’s stance and led it to go along with the numerous surveillance plans and social cuts pushed by the right. The Greens in Baden-Württemberg are doing the same, even though they themselves hold the office of Minister-President.

As early as a month ago, in the coalition agreement, they had allowed themselves to be persuaded — or perhaps even wanted it themselves — to continue working on expanding the overall surveillance budget in the state.
According to Netzpolitik.org, this will mark the first time in Germany that cameras will be used to both analyze and evaluate the behavior of people in the frame and measure their faces in order to determine, via facial recognition, whether they are of interest to the police. A project of this kind has been in development in Mannheim for eight years and is now set to be expanded to two additional cities.

Netzpolitik.org further reports that, in addition to real-time remote identification, the Green Party and the CDU also want to allow the police in Baden-Württemberg to search for specific faces on the internet. In this process, images posted online by private individuals, organizations, or employers via social media will be analyzed and, where possible, matched to real people. Such images are then cross-referenced with daily video surveillance — particularly in so-called “crime hotspots.”

We know from the experience of the last 20 years that it won’t stop at “two additional cities.” Following the usual “salami tactics,” total surveillance of the entire population will continue to expand — so far, of course, without this effort having resulted in a noticeable decrease in crime statistics...

Read more https://netzpolitik.org/2026/koalitionsvertrag-baden-wuerttemberg-kameras-sollen-pruefen-wer-und-wie-brav-du-bist/

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