(Photo: TimmyTimTim/Shutterstock.com) A district court should restrict the use of facial recognition technology and strengthen the rights of defendants against opaque IT-based investigative tools. In criminal prosecution, automated search results are often seen as the epitome of efficiency: one image, one database match, one result. However, technical feasibility does not necessarily satisfy all legal requirements. In a recently published judgment from 11 December, the District Court of Reutlingen decided: in February, it became clear that algorithmically generated identification leads alone are insufficient to guarantee a conviction without robust safeguards and technical transparency. The case arose from an incident in a pharmacy in October 2025. Employees observed via security video how a person poured out several bottles of women’s perfume. Shortly thereafter, the suspect returned to the store and was confronted, causing the situation to escalate. While fleeing, the perpetrator wrapped himself in an umbrella and collided with two employees who tried to stop him. The police used the surveillance video to perform facial recognition through the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The system found a match: a repeat offender already known to police and wanted for various crimes.
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