Germany expands Federal Police authority with AI surveillance and new immigration powers

After more than five years of debate, the German Bundestag and Bundesrat enacted a reform that widens the Federal Police's remit in transport and border locations. The new law authorises real-time facial-recognition systems and AI-driven video analysis to identify actions such as drawing a weapon or collapsing onto tracks. It also expands powers to track mobile phones and monitor messaging apps in investigations of extremism and human trafficking.

Random checks are permitted in weapon-free zones at stations and on trains, and the police can now apply to detain people pending deportation, chiefly at airports and railway stations. Critics from the Greens and the Left Party warned that live biometric surveillance could become routine and raise legal issues. Civil-rights groups highlighted the risk of racial profiling, noting that foreign-appearing individuals are already stopped more frequently in these settings.