AlgorithmWatch says it testified at a Bundestag Interior Committee hearing on 21 September 2026 on planned surveillance powers for federal security and migration authorities. It argues the bills would allow retention of biometric data of uninvolved people and conflict with constitutional and EU law. These are legal and political assessments by an advocacy group, not independent findings.
How this is computed
- Key claims supported: 3 of 6
- Type of source: Institution on its own work
- Independent confirmation: None
Rates the source, not the topic and not our analysis.
Why it matters
Our reading: The hearing places the bills at the committee stage, still before votes in the Bundestag and Bundesrat. The critique illustrates how civil-society groups frame biometric search powers as a conflict with EU rules, including the AI Act. Whether that conflict exists has not been independently assessed or ruled on.
What the source says
- Vendor claim only AlgorithmWatch says its Senior Policy Manager Pia Sombetzki took part as an expert witness in the Interior Committee hearing on 21 September 2026. The release links no official hearing record.
- Conditionally supported According to AlgorithmWatch, the planned laws would allow authorities to retain highly sensitive biometric data of people with no connection to any case.
- Conditionally supported Sombetzki describes the plans as a biometric super database that would let authorities identify people at any time from photos and videos online. This is her characterisation, not a technical description from the bills.
- Conditionally supported AlgorithmWatch argues the bills contradict constitutional and EU law, including the EU AI Act, and would accept chilling effects on democratic life.
- Unverifiable Sombetzki says the plans risk legitimising practices of commercial face search engines such as Clearview AI and PimEyes, which she calls illegal without citing a ruling.
- Unverifiable AlgorithmWatch calls on the Bundestag and Bundesrat to vote against introducing these powers.
The key caveat
The only source is AlgorithmWatch’s own press release, and the documents it links are its own statement and expert opinion. The draft bills and the federal government’s reasoning are not part of what was published.
Open questions
- What exactly do the draft bills permit regarding biometric matching against internet images, and which authorities would gain these powers?
- How did other experts at the hearing and the federal government assess the bills’ compatibility with constitutional law and the EU AI Act?
- What is the timetable for the Bundestag and Bundesrat votes?
What’s next
Watch for the Interior Committee’s report and the scheduling of votes in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Source: AlgorithmWatch, 21 September 2026: Statement AlgorithmWatch im Innenausschuss: Bundestag und Bundesrat sollten gegen dieses Überwachungspaket stimmen
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