Germany Moves Toward Automated Biometric Searches Across the Open Internet

Germany’s parliament is preparing to examine legislation that would give the Federal Criminal Police Office, or BKA, and the Federal Police expanded powers to conduct automated biometric searches using publicly available internet data.

The Bundestag’s Interior Committee will hold a public hearing on the package on September 21, bringing together legal, police, privacy and technology experts to assess a series of government proposals covering biometric internet searches, automated data analysis and the use of artificial intelligence in federal investigations.

Under the proposed rules, authorities could take existing biometric information — such as a photograph of a person under investigation — and automatically compare it with publicly accessible images found online.

The government says the capability could help authorities identify or locate individuals and establish links between suspects and other people or activities. Existing German law does not provide an explicit basis for conducting such searches automatically using dedicated software, meaning comparable internet research is currently limited to manual methods in relevant cases.

From manual OSINT to automated biometric matching

The proposal effectively brings techniques associated with open-source intelligence into a significantly more automated environment.

Publicly available photographs on websites and online platforms could be searched for biometric matches against images already held by authorities. The legislation is designed to be technology- and product-neutral, meaning it does not prescribe a specific commercial facial-recognition platform.

The government’s package would create or amend legal authorities across the Federal Criminal Police Office Act, Federal Police Act and criminal procedure rules.

For criminal investigations, the proposed legislation would allow automated biometric internet matching to help establish facts, determine a person’s identity or locate a suspect or witness.

The measure would not be available for every investigation. Under the government proposal, it would generally require suspicion of a sufficiently serious criminal offense and circumstances in which identifying or locating the relevant individual through other means would be substantially more difficult or unlikely to succeed.

The legislation also states that searches against publicly available real-time data would not be permitted, distinguishing the proposed capability from continuous real-time facial recognition of people moving through public spaces.

Data produced by a search that does not provide a concrete investigative lead would also have to be deleted without delay, according to the draft.

AI-powered analysis also on the table

Biometric internet searches form only one part of a broader modernization package.

The proposed legislation would also establish legal grounds for the BKA and Federal Police to use automated data analysis, including systems incorporating artificial intelligence, and to test and train new IT products for investigative purposes.

Government planning documents estimate that building the technical environment required for automated analysis would cost around €40.7 million initially, with annual costs of approximately €44 million before expected efficiencies from Germany’s wider P20 police IT modernization program.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees would also receive powers under parts of the proposed package to compare photographs against publicly accessible internet data for identification purposes.

Privacy and security debate

The proposed expansion has triggered a broader debate in Germany over how far automated biometric identification should extend.

The government argues that modern investigators need technical tools capable of processing online information at a scale that manual searches cannot realistically match, particularly in terrorism and serious-crime investigations.

Opposition lawmakers and civil-rights organizations have raised concerns about the potential impact on privacy and fundamental rights. The Greens have called for stronger safeguards before biometric and automated-analysis powers are introduced, while the Left has sought a prohibition on systems it describes as enabling biometric mass identification. Those descriptions are political positions rather than the government’s characterization of the legislation.

The Bundesrat, representing Germany’s federal states, raised no general objection to the police-investigation bill in June, although it proposed changes to parts of the wider digital-investigation framework.

Monday’s hearing will now put the technical and legal architecture of the proposals under closer scrutiny before Germany decides how far automated biometric internet searches can become part of routine federal investigative capabilities.