Nico Schmidt – Investigativer Journalist

AI Surveillance: Who’s Really Watching You?

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Expose AI surveillance from football stadiums to workplaces

How to research the arms industry in times of defence boom

Sat, 24 May 2025 13:45:00 +0000

‘Exposing the corporate networks and supply chains of arms companies’

Watching the Watchers: AI Surveillance & EU Act Loopholes

Fri, 23 May 2025 16:45:00 +0000

Uncover hidden AI surveillance under the EU Act's loopholes

Illegal exports, high profits

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Austrian businessman Markus K. allegedly bought high-tech aircraft parts in the United States—including a 72,000-dollar attitude and heading reference system (AHRS)—and, with an Indian partner, rerouted them to Russia in breach of Western sanctions. US court filings seen by Investigate Europe and Der Standard say K. offered the AHRS to Russian contact Yevgeny B. for 152,000 dollars and that the Indian intermediary shipped more than 50 consignments worth $6 million to a single Russian company between mid-2023 and autumn 2024.

Rheinmetall's discreet business

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

German arms maker Rheinmetall is booking record profits from NATO contracts yet is quietly expanding in non-NATO markets—even in states close to Russia. In India’s Himachal Pradesh the firm and local partner SMPP are building one of the country’s largest ammunition plants; a framework deal took effect in 2023. The production lines come from Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) in South Africa, a subsidiary that has already exported nearly 40 shell- and bomb-factory systems to countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and China.

How the loopholes ended up in the AI Act

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The EU’s AI Act aims to ban “unacceptable-risk” AI, yet leaked COREPER papers show France engineered major loopholes. Police and border guards may keep using facial and emotion recognition under a national-security clause. Backed by Italy, Sweden, Finland and others, Paris ensured real-time facial recognition stays legal for 16 offences (including “environmental crime”) and could be widened.

Another article lets authorities source data from private firms or third countries, a move legal experts say clashes with EU court rulings. The ban on biometric categorisation was likewise softened for law-enforcement use. A late self-certification clause allows vendors to decide if their tools are “high risk”, undermining oversight according to the European Parliament’s legal service. Civil-rights groups fear mass surveillance and say the Act prioritises Europe’s AI market over privacy.

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