Overview

• Alexander Dobrindt’s federal Sicherheitspaket is under inter-ministerial review following an open letter from NGOs demanding its withdrawal over biometric facial recognition and AI data analysis powers.
• On August 9, Thuringia’s CDU, BSW and SPD government introduced police law amendments including electronic ankle monitors and AI-based video surveillance but lacks a parliamentary majority to pass them.
• Rights organizations such as D64, AlgorithmWatch, the Chaos Computer Club and Amnesty International warn that the proposed measures enable untargeted biometric searches of online data and violate EU AI regulations and constitutional rights.
• Under the EU AI Act, un-targeted scraping of online images for facial recognition is banned except for national security, creating a legal grey zone for the federal proposals that mirrors past Bundesrat rejections.
• Thuringia’s state data protection authority and the Left party have rejected the draft amendments, forcing potential revisions during upcoming parliamentary debates.