As long as no new city government is formed following the Berliners’ vote in September, the old government can continue to do as it pleases. As a result, bike lanes are being quickly removed, and we’re not hearing good news from the City Administration either. These “actions” are concentrated in Kreuzberg, whether it’s the hated fence around Görlitzer Park or the video surveillance at and around U Kottbusser Tor. On the neighborhood movement’s website, we read:

The planned launch of AI camera surveillance in Berlin must be canceled now!

The Senate, which is (still) in office, is apparently determined to push through certain projects by any means necessary, and is willing to systematically lie to the public to do so. The most recent example is the highly controversial AI-assisted video surveillance system, which has already been installed at Kottbusser Tor and was actually supposed to go into operation in the coming weeks.

As recently as August 2026, Spranger said that the police could only see stick figures and their movements on the screens: “The face will not be recognizable. It’s all about the movement patterns.” (Among others, Süddeutsche Zeitung Aug. 3, 2026)

Now the police have revealed that this statement was a complete lie. Instead of “stick figures,” high-resolution video recordings of the monitored events are to be displayed at the police station. (Berliner Morgenpost Oct. 12, 2026) Furthermore, the detailed recordings are to be stored in their entirety for one month and can be viewed at any time — for example, by police officers — or analyzed using additional software. (Netzpolitik.org Oct. 20, 2026)

The claim that the footage collected through video surveillance in Berlin could not be used to train AI because this would be legally prohibited under Berlin’s ASOG was apparently a lie as well. According to a written inquiry dated September 3, 26, it states:

Video recordings from so-called “crime-prone areas” such as Kottbusser Tor may and should be used to train AI software and, depending on the intended use, do not even need to be anonymized. There are even plans to share them with private companies. (Netzpolitik.org September 15, 26)

It’s time for this defeated Senate to finally be replaced ...

Read more https://goerli247.org/

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