Quantifying State Surveillance from a Constitutional Perspective

Insights from the Surveillance Barometer

How much state surveillance is there in Germany? Building on prior, mainly theoretical, considerations about the need for realizing an ‘overall accounting’ of surveillance, a group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law developed a broader conceptual approach for establishing a general surveillance account for Germany. Designed as a theoretically and empirically grounded instrument, the ‘surveillance barometer’ measures and assesses the actual level of state surveillance in Germany by performing a normative analysis of the authorizations for surveillance and by using empirical data on the frequency of implementation of the adopted measures. The study delivers a comprehensive overview of the surveillance landscape and serves as an important evidence-based foundation for informed legal policy discussions. The first results, published in early 2025, show that surveillance powers in Germany are wide-ranging and governed by a highly complex legal framework. The talk will present the project and address contemporary challenges for the effective protection of fundamental rights.

André Bartsch, Marc Bovermann, Johanna Fink, and Jakob Mutter are doctoral researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, who all participated in the Surveillance Barometer project.