When cameras recognize you

On the occasion of the exhibition Sheung Yiu . (Inter)faces of Predictions, C/O Berlin and the Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung are hosting a joint discussion on the topic of facial recognition. What was long considered a future scenario has long since become part of everyday life: facial recognition unlocks smartphones, identifies suspects, and analyzes crowds. But what does it mean when your own face becomes a data set? Who sees what, and with what consequences? The panel discussion will examine the opportunities, risks, and limitations of biometric facial recognition. It will also address where and how the technology is already being used, both in the digital space and in the public analog context.

The focus will be on current issues: How secure is biometric data really? Where is facial recognition already being used today, and where does society draw the line? What are the risks of misusing sensitive data? And what might a future look like in which machines not only recognize faces, but interpret them?

Participants in the event will receive a discounted ticket (6 euros) for the exhibition Sheung Yiu . (Inter)faces of Predictions . C/O Berlin Talent Award 2025.
 

Katharina Klappheck is a disabled political scientist and cyberfeminist whose work focuses in particular on queerness, disability, and artificial intelligence, as well as questions of digital accessibility and structural digital exclusion. In activist contexts, Katharina’s focus lies especially on the development and design of new inclusive technologies. Currently, Klappheck’s work centers on the conception of political strategies in the field of equality as a critical practice, as well as on digital policy issues. They serve as Policy Advisor to the parliamentary group of DIE LINKE in the German Bundestag. Previously, Katharina worked as Policy Advisor for Feminist Digital Policy at the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Lena Rohrbach is Policy Advisor for Human Rights in the Digital Age and Arms Export Controls at Amnesty International. She is a member of the General Assembly of Campact, co-founder of the Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte), and served on the board of the Humanistische Union. She studied Philosophy, Cultural Studies and History as well as International Human Rights Law.

Alexandra Ketterer joined the Tagesspiegel Background team in September 2024, where she covers tech regulation, AI, and cybersecurity. Before that, she completed a data journalism traineeship at Süddeutsche Zeitung. She studied business administration, cultural studies, and journalism in Berlin, Hildesheim, and Leipzig. In 2022, she and her team won the Surveillance Studies Award for the podcast series „Biometrics Made in Europe.”