Berlin’s most far-reaching and potentially invasive policing reforms post-reunification have come into force since January. The bill for these new reforms was pushed through by the CDU/SPD coalition with support in the vote from AfD lawmakers in late 2025. The amendment to the General Security and Public Order Act runs over 700 pages long and has been criticised for marking the beginning of a new surveillance era in the German capital.
Here’s what has actually changed, and how your everyday life could be affected.
1. AI can be used in public spaces
Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) described the amendment as “the biggest reform of the Berlin Police Law in decades”. She argued that police need stronger digital powers: “We’re creating a significant plus for the protection of Berliners. We’re giving law enforcement better tools to fight terrorism and organised crime.”
According to Berlin police crime statistics, the city recorded more than half a million criminal offences in 2024. The city’s legislature maintains that heightened tools are required to tackle this new reality, as most organised crime now takes place on smartphones as opposed to in back rooms. While some see the need for increased technology to keep up with criminals, others feel that these new laws are an overreach.
For local residents, this could mean more time on camera and more of their data collected in areas that are already heavily policed.
AI is a very prominent feature in these new laws. Under new powers, Berlin police will deploy AI-assisted video monitoring in areas designated as “crime-prone”. Unlike traditional CCTV systems, which are designed to only record, these AI tools are also designed to analyse and draw conclusions.
The software is programmed to flag behavioural patterns, unusual movements or large gatherings. Officers can be alerted in real time when the computer deems people’s behaviour to be of concern. This technology doesn’t necessarily identify individuals by name or match them up against a database, as is the way in some other European states, but it can categorise behaviour as suspicious and attempts to predict crime before it occurs.
Some of the neighbourhoods in which this AI surveillance will be installed include Alexanderplatz, Kottbusser Tor and Görlitzer Park. For local residents, this could mean more time on camera and more of their data collected in areas that are already heavily policed.
This type of technology has already been rolled out across the UK and faced severe challenges. Most notable is the story of Alvi Choudhury, was wrongly flagged as a criminal and arrested due to an AI monitor linking him to a burglary he had no connection to. He was detained for 10 hours before being released. Even though there was CCTV footage that proved his alibi, police felt uneasy about overruling what they were being told by the AI monitoring technology. The error was due to a software match that disproportionately misidentifies people of Asian and Black backgrounds. Police later acknowledged potential bias in the technology but still defended its use.
2. Police can hack a phone more easily
Police are now able to hack phones with judicial authorisation. A spyware known as a ‘state Trojan’ can be deployed to intercept communications sent to a device. This allows investigators to read encrypted messages before they’re scrambled by apps such as WhatsApp or Signal.
Such tools have previously been permitted by use in German courts, but only under much stricter conditions for much more serious crimes. The new laws expand the scope of this spyware implementation.
Supporters of these new technologies often argue they will be used to tackle drug cartels or terror networks. Many critics would counter that these types of surveillance powers have a history of expanding beyond their original targets. Berlin police have already faced international criticism over their aggressive handling of demonstrations throughout 2023 and 2024, when officers made mass arrests and were accused by rights groups of using disproportionate force against Palestine solidarity activists.
This spyware also isn’t possible to install remotely which means police may now be authorised to secretly enter a home to install the software onto a device. German tech outlet Heise described this as a significant escalation.
The law also expands the use of so-called ‘cell tower queries’. This means police can request data from telecom providers identifying all mobile phones that are connected to a specific tower at a specific time.
Therefore, if you attend a demonstration, pass through an area where a crime has occurred or simply live nearby, your device could be included in that dataset, even if you aren’t a suspect. Privacy concerns have been raised as it will create large pools of police data about lawful bystanders who will now have their movements tracked.
3. Body cams can be used in private homes
There’s a strong argument around the use of body cameras being beneficial both for protecting police and civilians, but the laws around when they can be turned on and off are heavily regulated. The expanded use of body cameras may normalise the use of them in people’s homes, where the law has traditionally respected the right of privacy.
The new policing reforms erode long-standing German constitutional protections of the concept of the home. Germany’s post-war legal framework has treated the inviolability of the home as a core democratic principle. This has been shaped by historical memory of state surveillance under both the Nazi regime and the DDR Stasi. Any expansion in this area is therefore politically sensitive.
Who will feel it first?
These new laws won’t affect every Berliner equally.
Neighbourhoods already designated as crime ‘hot spots’ are likely to experience intensified digital monitoring. Activists may see more systematic data collection around demonstrations. People connected to suspects, whether through messaging apps or proximity, could find their data swept into investigations even if they aren’t accused of wrongdoing.
As with the majority of government policies or policing powers, the implementation may remain mostly invisible but there will likely be moments where these laws become more tangible: for example, a routine check justified by an algorithmic mishap or a delayed airport screening because your name surfaced in a wider telecom data sweep. Perhaps there could be a knock on the door linked to messages sent in a group chat that included someone under investigation. As these powers become more normalised, perhaps people will think twice about attending a demonstration or being involved in much of the subversive and liberating activities and events that make Berlin the special place it is.
Security or surveillance?
The core tension of the ASOG reform lies in how one interprets risk. The Berlin government frames the law as a necessary response to evolving criminal tactics. Civil rights organisations describe it as a disproportionate extension of the state into everyday life.
Both claims are probably true at once. Modern policing increasingly relies on data, but data collection on this scale inevitably captures more than its intended targets. The new law doesn’t make Berlin a dystopian surveillance state overnight. It does, however, mean that the legal boundaries around digital monitoring and predictive analysis have moved decisively outward.
Once these powers are here, they are here to stay.
Once these powers are here, they are here to stay. Maybe you feel unaffected by these changes. After all, you’re not a criminal, right? With political currents in Germany at the moment, it’s possible that the definition of what is considered a crime could dramatically change in a very short space of time, as more radical political movements and parties continue to grow in popularity (let’s remember that, until 32 years ago, it was a criminal offence in Germany to be in a same sex relationship).
For Berliners in 2026, the most important shift may not be immediately visible on the street, but down the road, you might feel it through the growing integration of cameras and AI surveillance disturbing the ordinary mechanics of urban life.
