German states expand AI behavior‑recognition surveillance cameras

Several German states are piloting AI‑driven behavior‑analysis cameras that overlay a simplified “stick‑figure” on people’s limbs and flag movements such as punches, kicks, shoves or defensive postures. Current pilots operate in Mannheim and Hamburg, with Berlin planning a rollout and Baden‑Württemberg considering expansion to Heidelberg. Similar systems already run in Bremen’s tram network, and legislative drafts are under debate in Lower Saxony, Saxony, Schleswig‑Holstein and Thuringia.

Legal expert Davy Wang warns that the technology creates “a subtle feeling of being watched” and raises serious privacy issues, including infringement of the right to informational self‑determination and potential chilling effects on assembly. Pilot projects lack evidence of effectiveness, and error rates can be high – Berlin’s tender allows up to a 25 % false‑positive rate, meaning one in four alerts could be erroneous.

A separate report from Brandenburg’s data‑protection office highlights another misuse: a campground filming guests up to their tents, illustrating how surveillance can extend into private leisure spaces. Both cases underscore calls for stricter safeguards, transparent algorithms, and clear limits on what behaviours the systems may target.