A German IT-security expert has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), alleging that his police photographs were used unlawfully to test facial recognition systems. The case, supported by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), was lodged on September 19, 2025, with the Administrative Court in Wiesbaden.
Allegations and Context
Plaintiff Janik Besendorf was photographed by police in 2018 during a case that was later dropped, but his images remained stored in police systems. According to reports, the lawsuit contends that these photos were processed as part of the BKA’s biometric testing without a valid legal basis. Heise notes that the case focuses on the BKA’s use of stored images for evaluating commercial facial recognition products.
The dispute stems from a 2019 project known as EGES (“Ertüchtigung des Gesichtserkennungssystems im BKA”), in which the BKA compared four market-ready systems. Testing was carried out by Fraunhofer IGD using roughly 4.8 to 5 million frontal images of around 3 million individuals from the INPOL-Z police database, in addition to a smaller volunteer dataset. Correspondence obtained through freedom of information requests shows that regulators questioned the legal justification for this use.
The BKA has maintained that the testing was conducted internally on an isolated, offline system, with external partners not given direct access to personal data. It has argued that the exercise constituted scientific research permitted under the BKA Act. Regulators, however, have suggested that benchmarking commercial products does not fall under the definition of scientific research and that the practice lacked a legal foundation.
Potential Implications
If the court rules that the BKA’s actions were unlawful, it could restrict the use of police image databases for research and product evaluations. The outcome may also affect procurement practices, since the BKA’s facial recognition platform GES—which processes tens of thousands of queries annually—relies on product testing and evaluations to select technology partners.
The case also reflects broader European debates on the scope of biometric surveillance. German policymakers have in recent years proposed new measures to expand police use of biometric technologies, including plans following the Berlin Christmas Market attack, as well as regional initiatives in Bavaria and pilots in Saxony and Berlin. Courts have simultaneously been narrowing surveillance powers in other areas, creating a complex environment for law enforcement and regulators alike.
Sources: netzpolitik.org, Heise Online, CCC
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By Ali Nassar-Smith
