Matthias Monroy – Seite 2 – Matthias Monroy

Police in Germany launch large-scale drone project

North Rhine-Westphalia will equip the police with a total of 106 quadrocopters from 2021. They will also be used for the „pursuit of offenders“.

In Germany, more and more police authorities use quadrocopters, mainly to monitor the scene of violent crimes or after traffic accidents. The surveillance of political assemblies does occur, but these missions are still rare. Saxony first acquired small drones over ten years ago and flew them at football matches and demonstrations. In Lower Saxony, a quadrocopter once flew during a nuclear waste transport. In Freiburg, a special operations team recently brought quadrocopters to a house eviction.

Other missions took place this year during the first lockdown in spring. Police in Hesse and Bavaria launched quadrocopters to patrol Corona restrictions in parks, and they are also said to have been used on the island of Rügen. However, it is not known whether any footage was collected and processed in these operations. In North Rhine-Westphalia, drones with loudspeakers flew over green spaces to instruct the public. „Police in Germany launch large-scale drone project“ weiterlesen

Court in France bans police drones at demonstrations

The use of police drones for Corona compliance and at political rallies in Paris is unlawful. La Quadrature du Net sees the „balance of power“ with police reversing.

The French Supreme Administrative Court has banned the police in Paris from using quadrocopters to monitor demonstrations. Police prefect Didier Lallement is to stop the practice immediately, the court ordered today. It had already imposed a ban on the unmanned surveillance of Corona conditions in May. This ruling has now been extended.

The French government had regulated police drone flights in Article 22 of the „Global Security Law“ recently passed in first reading. It expands the possibilities of law enforcement agencies to use footage filmed in public space. In addition to drones, this also affects helicopters that transmit videos to police situation centres. „Court in France bans police drones at demonstrations“ weiterlesen

Query on Suspicion: German EU Council Presidency wants Criminal Records Index

For the second time, the German Federal Criminal Police Office is leading an EU pilot project that aims to enable cross-border queries of police files. This could affect not only police suspects but also their associates or victims. The Federal Ministry of the Interior has been pursuing the project since the German EU Presidency in 2007.

With the German EU Presidency soon to end, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is one step closer to its goal of networking police forces in EU member states in a new information system. Within the framework of a „European Police Record Index System“ (EPRIS), the police in all participating states are to be able to query registers on persons against whom criminal investigations are on file. With such a system, it could be determined whether data exists in the police databases of another state.

Since February, the BKA has been leading an EU project that is testing the use of this EPRIS for the second time within a year. The police from France, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Hungary as well as Europol are involved. Partners from the private sector are the German consulting company PD and the Berlin Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS. „Query on Suspicion: German EU Council Presidency wants Criminal Records Index“ weiterlesen

Germany: Problems with another drone project

The LUNA is one of the most widely used drones in the Bundeswehr, and it is also the oldest. The contractor for a much more powerful successor system has now declared insolvency.

In the past two weeks, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) has decided to use the emergency brake against the arming of Bundeswehr drones. This concerned the HERON TP from Israel, which is to replace the HERON 1, which has been flown by the German Army since 2010. It is currently unclear whether and when the German government will try again to make up the decision for the armed HERON TP. Until then, drones will therefore only be used for reconnaissance. In addition to HERON 1, the Bundeswehr also flies the drone LUNA in Afghanistan and Mali. The abbreviation stands for „Airborne Unmanned Short-Range Reconnaissance Equipment“. „Germany: Problems with another drone project“ weiterlesen

German Social Democrats tip the scales against arming Heron TP drones – but now the „Eurodrones“ are coming

The arming of Israeli drones has been stopped for now, but in coming months the Bundestag will vote on whether to approve purchase of 21 „Eurodrones“.

Since 2010, the German Armed Forces have been flying unarmed drones of the type „Heron 1“ in Afghanistan, and since 2016 also in Mali. They come from an Israeli defence company, the main contractor is Airbus with its German branch in Ottobrunn. From 2021, the successor model „Heron TP“ is to be available, which the Bundeswehr wants to arm.

These plans are now off the table for the time being. Actually, the budget committee was supposed to decide tomorrow on the purchase of missiles for the „Heron TP“. At the request of Social Democratic Party (SPD) defence policy spokesman Fritz Felgentreu and with endorsement of the parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, the Ministry of Defence had prepared a corresponding draft resolution in November. The SPD forms the current government together with Christian Democrats. „German Social Democrats tip the scales against arming Heron TP drones – but now the „Eurodrones“ are coming“ weiterlesen

„Electronic Evidence“: No simplification for digital investigations yet

No less than three international organisations are working on different agreements to ease access to servers abroad for police and judiciary. In the Council of Europe, the EU Commission might pre-empt the United Nations. Problems arise with demands from the USA.

65 states have ratified the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, and three more may join. The 2001 treaty is also known as the Budapest Convention. For three years now, the participants have been negotiating a new version, which should facilitate cross-border access to „Electronic Evidence“ in criminal investigations.

Negotiations on the conclusion of the new mutual legal assistance agreement will now be delayed by at least six months. This was announced by the Cybercrime Committee of the Council of Europe after its meeting on 30 November. The new timetable provides that the agreement can be concluded in May 2021 at the earliest. „„Electronic Evidence“: No simplification for digital investigations yet“ weiterlesen

Big business with throw-away military drones

The defence company Airbus is expected to have produced 2,000 target drones soon, at a unit price in the six-digit range. The Bundeswehr uses them for air defence training. Further missions are testing swarms of drones.

To train air defence forces, the military simulates another aerial vehicle or an approaching missile with so-called target drones. The unmanned aircraft is then not always shot down, sometimes only the detection and tracking of the target is tested.

The Bundeswehr has been using target drones since the 1980s at the latest. Initially, the troops flew a petrol-powered model aircraft, for example the KZD-2 („Kleinziel-Drohne 2“). „Big business with throw-away military drones“ weiterlesen

How it all began: Five years of fight against end-to-end encryption

The German EU Presidency wants to enable police forces and secret services to circumvent end-to-end encrypted communication or to use technical tools to defeat it.

A look at the activities carried out over the past five years allows some conclusions about who is particularly committed to the new crypto war. In its wake, Europol is also developing new capabilities for using Trojans and cracking encrypted storage media. „How it all began: Five years of fight against end-to-end encryption“ weiterlesen

German government publishes roadmap on drone armament

The governing coalition of Christian and Social Democrats wants to introduce armed drones in a hurry before the Bundestag elections. More and more SPD members of parliament are now positioning themselves against it

On 16 December, the Budget and Defence Committees of the German Bundestag are due to decide on the armament of the Israeli-derived HERON TP drones for the Bundeswehr. The Ministry of Defence sent a draft decision to the Ministry of Finance a fortnight ago, which will now be submitted to the Bundestag for voting. It is not clear how expensive the armament will be, the mounting points for the desired missiles alone have cost 50 million euros. All details of the ammunition are classified as secret.

In preparation for the vote, the Federal Government has updated an intergovernmental agreement with Israel. It regulates the training of German personnel by the Israeli Air Force and so far only applied to the unarmed HERON TP, which was ordered by the Bundeswehr two years ago. The agreement is now supplemented by the procurement and provision of ammunition, „appropriate additional technical equipment“ and „weapon-specific training“. „German government publishes roadmap on drone armament“ weiterlesen

Advertising for police databases: Germany wants „European Data Quality Day“

Alerts in the Schengen Information System are increasing significantly every year, entries in Europol databases are also continuing to grow. The German government now wants to use video messages and giveaways to promote the acceptance of the largest European police database.

The German EU Council Presidency wants to introduce a „European Data Quality Day“ (EDQD) in the EU Member States to improve the quality of police data bases. The Federal Ministry of the Interior already sent out a questionnaire on this subject in September, now a proposal is to be discussed at the EU Council of Interior and Justice Ministers. The action day is to be repeated annually and is part of the „European Police Partnership“ (EuPP), which the Federal Government announced on the occasion of its Presidency.

The initiative is mainly aimed at the use of the Schengen Information System (SIS II). Thus, the Member States are to enter more arrest warrants in the database. Improvements are also to be made with regard to incorrect spelling of first names and surnames or changes of name. In some Member States, the SIS II will no longer show previous entries of the person after a marriage. „Advertising for police databases: Germany wants „European Data Quality Day““ weiterlesen