Decision on the application of the new regulations remains undecided by the Commission.
News Article: Constitutional Challenge to Bavarian Police Surveillance Software VeRA
A constitutional complaint against the Bavarian Police Duty Act (BayPAG) and the use of the surveillance software VeRA has been filed at the Federal Constitutional Court. The complaint, lodged in July 2025, was made by the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) and supported by the Chaos Computer Club, among others.
The complainants allege that the use of VeRA, a police surveillance software based on the Palantir Gotham platform, violates fundamental rights such as informational self-determination and telecommunications secrecy. The software is said to analyse vast amounts of data from various sources, establish digital connections, and generate risk profiles, potentially affecting innocent people and associating them with criminal activities improperly.
Among the eight complainants are a criminal defense lawyer, activists, and persons from the fan support SpVgg Fürth. They express concerns about the potential impact of VeRA on completely innocent persons, as well as the secretive nature of the data analysis, possible software errors, and insufficient control mechanisms under current Bavarian regulation.
The complaint targets the lack of effective safeguards and limits on police use of such intrusive technology. The criticism centres on the fact that the Bavarian Police Duty Act allows overly broad surveillance, including preventive measures without concrete suspicion, which the complainants argue is unconstitutional.
The Federal Constitutional Court has previously ruled that such surveillance software usage must be limited to cases with serious offenses, typically those punishable by more than three years imprisonment, and that the law allowing these practices should be restricted accordingly. This ruling provides a precedent relevant to the current complaint.
The resistance against VeRA has been brought to the Federal Constitutional Court due to concerns among data protectionists and civil rights organizations, who view it as an attack on fundamental rights. Complainant Johannes König, a musician and co-organizer of the NoBayPAG demonstrations, expresses concern about the software's connection to Peter Thiel, a right-wing conspiracy theorist.
As of early August 2025, no final court ruling specifically on the complaint involving SpVgg Greuther Fürth and other individuals has been published. The focus remains on challenging the overarching legal framework and the deployment of VeRA software under BayPAG.
Johannes König's statement emphasizes the need for the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe to halt the latest development regarding VeRA. The situation remains active with significant constitutional and legal implications regarding privacy, police powers, and digital surveillance in Bavaria.
A similar constitutional complaint is currently pending in North Rhine-Westphalia. Lawyer Franziska Görlitz of GFF states that even those who are victims of a crime or file a complaint can potentially end up in the digital grid. Mr. König further states that the Bavarian Police Duty Act is already authoritarian and the state government's reliance on VeRA is a concerning development.
The police may use VeRA not only in serious crimes but also for "danger prevention" without judicial control. The algorithms used by VeRA are said to work opaquely, making errors and discriminatory effects difficult to rule out.
The current status of the constitutional complaint against BayPAG and the use of VeRA is that it challenges the extensive use of Palantir's Gotham-based VeRA platform by Bavarian police for big data analysis, arguing that the Bavarian law allows overly broad surveillance, including preventive measures without concrete suspicion, which violates fundamental rights.
What about the concerns raised by the complainants regarding the impact of the technology used by VeRA on innocent individuals and the potential for software errors and insufficient control mechanisms?
Given the secretive nature of the data analysis conducted by VeRA, it's crucial for the Federal Constitutional Court to scrutinize the transparency and accountability of this technology to protect the fundamental rights of Bavarian citizens.
