Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann announces: Measures of the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on Hesse and Hamburg will be fully taken into account in the PAG – No concrete introduction date as yet

The Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that automated data analysis is possible in principle, subject to certain restrictions: In view of today’s ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on ‘Automated Data Analysis by the Police in Hesse and Hamburg’, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann announced: “We will closely analyse the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court and, on this basis, initiate a legal basis in the Police Tasks Act (PAG) for the new ‘Cross-Procedural Search and Analysis System’ (VeRA) of the Bavarian Police on the parliamentary path. Before that, we will inform the Bavarian Parliament on 8 March 2023 about the result of the source code review by the Fraunhofer Institute SIT and the effects of the ruling for the legal basis in the PAG.” According to Herrmann, a concrete introduction date for VeRA has not yet been set.

According to Herrmann, it will be ensured that the analysis software can only be used under the conditions and requirements formulated by the Federal Constitutional Court. “According to the Federal Constitutional Court, a constitutional design is expressly possible,” the Interior Minister emphasised. Herrmann also assured that the new analysis software would only be used within the police network and without a connection to the internet. “Access to the data from outside or data leakage to external servers is thus ruled out,” the minister said. “Only specially selected and specially trained police experts will be given access authorisation.”

As Herrmann explained, the source code review of the software underlying VeRA by the Fraunhofer Institute SIT has already been completed. The expert opinion was evaluated by the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation. “The highest possible data security and the best possible data protection are the basic prerequisites for the use of the software by the Bavarian Police,” assured the Minister of the Interior. The Bavarian police are also closely coordinating with the State Commissioner for Data Protection. Herrmann: “The Bavarian Police will only use VeRA when the Bavarian Parliament has passed a corresponding legal regulation.