Netzpolitik.org says it is still seeking around 200 new recurring donors, described as “Brandschutzhelfer*innen”, to support its work defending fundamental rights amid what it calls an authoritarian transformation of society. The appeal appeared in the publication’s week 44 review, which noted that nine new articles totaling 74,470 characters had been published.
The review warns that surveillance technologies are increasingly being introduced in Germany. At Berlin’s Kottbusser Tor, a system that analyzes people’s movements in public space is already operating, while similar deployments may follow at railway stations across the country. The publication also points to facial-recognition tools used in Russia to identify demonstrators and track their later movements through the rail network, saying that comparable tools are intended for nationwide use in Germany.
Netzpolitik.org presents its work around four activities: raising the alarm, examining legislative proposals, making people visible and freeing documents. As part of that effort, it has requested the complete training data behind Berlin’s video surveillance system with behavioral analysis, using the remaining provisions of the city’s freedom-of-information law.
The publication says many of the training videos appear to be AI-generated. Examples shown on the software maker Staige’s website under “violence detection” include scenes depicting permitted and prohibited behavior. The clips feature unusual situations such as tram doors opening while a vehicle is moving, people waving at surveillance cameras and figures appearing to fight without touching one another.
The request for the data is still pending. Netzpolitik.org says it may later organize a collective, annotated viewing of the material for supporters and recurring donors, with contributions from experts on intelligent video surveillance and the future of public space.
Sources: netzpolitik.org.