A year-long facial recognition pilot at Berlin Südkreuz station run by the German Federal Police and Deutsche Bahn was labeled by critics a "surveillance laboratory" due to concerns that it normalised mass biometric monitoring, infringed on the privacy of thousands of commuters, and lacked a clear legal basis. 

Berlin Südkreuz is a rail station and transport interchange junction in southern Berlin that has been used by a number of recent German governments as a laboratory for live biometric and other forms of surveillance.

The test involved roughly 300 volunteers who provided photos for a database; cameras then attempted to identify them among the roughly 100,000 daily commuters. 

While the police hailed the project as a success for counter-terrorism and security, civil rights groups and data protection advocates argued the experiment effectively turned a public transit hub into a "laboratory" for mass surveillance. 

The harm identified was the erosion of informational self-determination for the public, who were subjected to biometric scanning without explicit individual consent as they moved through a public space. 

Timeline ⏰

• August 1, 2017. The pilot project officially launches at Berlin Südkreuz station.

• August 2017. Civil rights groups (e.g. Digitalcourage) protest the trial, citing lack of meaningful consent.

• July 31, 2018. The first phase of the pilot concludes.

• October 2018. The Federal Police release a final report claiming "excellent" results.

• July 2022. A second "Security Lab" phase is opened at the same station to test broader "intelligent" behavior analysis (e.g., detecting abandoned luggage).

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• Bundespolizeipräsidium Potsdam (2018). Biometrische Gesichtserkennung

• Deutscher Bundestag (2018). Answers to Written Questions

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Fontes C., Hohma E., Corrigan C.C., Lütge C. (2022). AI-powered public surveillance systems: why we (might) need them and how we want them

• Report for the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament (2021). Biometric and Mass Surveillance in EU Member States

• Eireiner A., V. (2020). Imminent dystopia? Media coverage of algorithmic surveillance at Berlin-Südkreuz

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security-idUSKBN1AH4VR

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/02/facial-recognition-software-catch-terrorists-tested-berlin-station/

• https://www.politico.eu/article/berlin-big-brother-state-surveillance-facial-recognition-technology/

• https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-facial-recognition-pilot-program-divides-public/a-40228816

• https://www.dw.com/en/big-brother-in-berlin-face-recognition-technology-gets-tested/a-39912905

• https://www.dw.com/en/in-germany-controversy-still-surrounds-video-surveillance/a-50976630

• https://www.dw.com/en/facial-recognition-surveillance-test-extended-at-berlin-train-station/a-41813861

• https://automatingsociety.algorithmwatch.org/report2020/germany/

• https://fortune.com/2020/02/02/facial-recognition-police-privacy-bias-germany-uk/

• https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/berlin-gesichtserkennung-am-suedkreuz-ueberwachung-soll-ausgeweitet-werden-a-1232878.html

• https://www.euractiv.com/section/data-protection/news/german-ministers-plan-to-expand-automatic-facial-recognition-meets-fierce-criticism/