New German CCTV will use facial recognition and behaviour analysis

The federal state of Baden-Württemberg will be the first to use surveillance cameras that simultaneously perform live facial recognition and evaluate the behaviour of passersby.

Baden-Württemberg ramps up AI surveillance

Baden-Württemberg’s Greens-CDU coalition has recently signed off on its coalition agreement. The agreement includes a plan for the federal state to use surveillance cameras which simultaneously use facial recognition and behaviour analysis technology to determine whether members of the public are of interest to the police.

According to a report by Netzpolitik, authorities in Frankfurt already use surveillance cameras with facial recognition software, and authorities in Mannheim have been testing surveillance cameras that use behaviour analysis technology for the past eight years.

However, the behaviour analysis surveillance cameras in Mannheim will now also be equipped with facial recognition software. This will make Mannheim the first German city to deploy cameras that use both software simultaneously.

Given that ministers Cem Özdemir (Greens) and Manuel Hagel (CDU) have said they intend to remove restrictions that mean such cameras can only be used in locations with higher crime rates, it seems likely the cameras will be installed beyond the three currently planned locations.

How does the new CCTV work?

A surveillance camera with facial recognition software scans every face within its field of vision. If it detects a face it believes matches that of a person on a police wanted list, the system alerts authorities. 

This means the faces of every passerby, not just those that trigger an alert, are analysed and cross-referenced with police databases. This process is also known as “real-time remote identification”.

Alongside real-time remote identification, Baden-Württemberg’s state government wants to give police the power to cross-reference these facial recognition images with images online, for example, on social media or on organisations’ or companies' websites.

Behaviour analysis surveillance, according to the European Commission, focuses on “verbal and non-verbal behaviour to identify persons who may pose a threat to security” and is already deployed in airports, at borders and ports.

Other states are likely to use the technology

Hamburg adopted real-time remote identification in 2025; Berlin is likely to follow. Lower Saxony, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse, and Thuringia all have a legal framework in place for adopting the technology or are developing one.

However, so far, no state has taken the step of using both real-time remote identification and behaviour analysis technology simultaneously. “AI-powered video surveillance can ensure greater security while protecting fundamental rights,” the coalition wrote in its agreement.

Critics say it does almost exactly the opposite. At a Berlin demonstration against AI-powered video surveillance in public spaces, one demonstrator told Netzpolitik, “Surveillance - and especially AI-driven surveillance - is increasingly restricting our freedom of action. Yet freedom of action is an essential part of participatory democracy.”