The Snowden revelations rise questions about which data is used and how it is used by governmental bodies and how this changes societal norms, normativity and judgement. How close did we come in replacing human judgement by data based probabilities calculated by algorithms – which was already feared in the early days of computers?

The Profiling Project [1] investigates the impact of automated profiling on fundamental rights. Recently the research team at Technische Universität Berlin conducted a case study on the role of profiling technologies in the field of law enforcement and monitoring of political activism.

About 10 long term qualitative interviews with different actors in the realm of political activism have been conducted, such as technology providers, lawyers, legal experts, governmental bodies, activists. The analysis gives insights into the practice of law enforcement activities and shows the range from what can be known about it and what can be assumed regarding the experiences of scrutinized citizen. It thus sheds some light on the factual practices and the impact of new profiling technologies to policing practices in Germany.

[1] see http://profiling-project.eu, the project is funded by the European Union's Fundamental Rights and Justice Programme