Saxony's police wins negative prize: Big Brother Award for surveillance!

Saxony's police wins negative prize: Big Brother Award for surveillance!

An unexpected, spicy chapter in the life of Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) has opened! The minister has been awarded the controversial Big Brother Award 2024 - and that's not an honor you want! This negative prize is awarded for the implementation of the “video-based personal identification system” (PerlS) at the Polish border. This is a surveillance system that targets not only drivers, but also pedestrians and cyclists, sending a worrying message about data protection.

The prize was awarded by data protection advocates who urgently point out the worrying developments that PerlS brings with it. The Chaos Computer Club, one of the largest hacker associations in Europe, criticized that this system was a “scary foretaste of new surveillance possibilities”. This was made clear by Frank Rosengart, the laudator, during the award ceremony. “Continuous surveillance means that uninvolved people are recorded biometrically – not exactly a confidential undertaking!” says Rosengart. The Saxon police have installed cameras extensively in the region since 2019, which attracted little attention at the time.

Controversial technology under criticism

Schuster was surprised by the negative award, but emphasized that the system helps to effectively combat cross-border crime. Although the Interior Ministry assures that the cameras are not connected to the Internet or other databases, the legal gray area remains worrying. Legal experts warn that automated biometric capture may violate citizens' constitutional rights. Surveillance, an often hotly debated topic, appears to be a hot topic in Saxony, both politically and legally.

Despite the many questions and concerns, the police are proving successful: Statistics show that 387 crimes in Görlitz were solved with the help of PerlS last year and the trend is continuing in Zittau. “A highly effective system” – the Interior Minister’s mantra continues to be discussed at the border, while critics tirelessly point out the risks of surveillance.