European countries are stepping up their surveillance efforts with new measures claimed to enhance public safety.
Austria is moving forward with plans to grant police powers to monitor social media activity, while Denmark has begun deploying facial recognition technology to combat violent crime.
These developments mark a significant shift in how European states are leveraging technology to address security concerns.
Denmark police deploy facial recognition technology
Police authorities in Denmark announced plans to utilize facial recognition technology to combat gang-related violence in the country, during a meeting between Denmark’s national police commissioner and the justice minister on August 12.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard met with Thorkild Fogde, head of Denmark’s national police, to discuss strategies for addressing the rising incidents of shootings and violent crimes in Copenhagen. As part of these efforts, facial recognition technology and software will now be employed to access encrypted messages
“It’s about technology, about digital tools, the dark web. The technology that is at our disposal. There is a whole catalog of technical tools to use,” Fogde informed reporters.
To enable this initiative, Hummelgaard emphasized the need for legislative changes, which he assured would be implemented as swiftly as possible. He condemned organized criminal gangs that recruit Swedish teenagers to carry out deadly shootings in Denmark, stating it “reflects a totally sick, depraved culture of violence.”
According to official data, since April, there have been 25 incidents where young Swedes were hired by Danes to commit crimes in Denmark.
“It’s terrifying in every way and it makes me angry. Really, really angry,” Hummelgaard expressed, adding that he intends to “put pressure on Sweden so that they also take responsibility for these things.”
Denmark also pledged to exert pressure on Sweden to control cross-border incursions by Swedish gang members. Sweden has been grappling with a surge in gang-related attacks, involving firearms and explosives, leading the country to have the highest per capita gun violence rate in the European Union. Estimates from local authorities suggest that around 62,000 individuals in Sweden are associated with criminal gangs.
Swedish conservative and right-leaning parties have been advocating for enhanced biometric surveillance, including monitoring traffic stations and deploying drones. In December, the government initiated an inquiry to expand police authority in using camera surveillance, including facial recognition.
Austria plans to give police powers to access social media
Meanwhile, Austria’s chancellor presented a series of counterterrorism measures to his intelligence council on August 13, following a thwarted terrorist attack over the weekend at a Taylor Swift concert.
The measures include stronger monitoring of “messenger services.”
“It has become clear that Islamist terror poses a threat to security and freedom in Austria,” according to a list of government priorities published in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
“Legal measures should empower the services of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior to monitor the content of messages.”
The proposal followed Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s statement to German media over the weekend, advocating that Austria’s intelligence agencies should be able to decrypt messenger apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, allowing security agencies to review content when necessary.