The second project, "FAIRLEA – Fair AI Research for Law Enforcement Agencies," led by Prof. Dr. Christian Rückert from the Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, and IT Criminal Law at the University of Bayreuth, investigates how AI-based tools can be used in criminal investigations while meeting the requirements of law enforcement agencies and legal obligations under German and European law. Law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on AI to improve investigation efficiency. For instance, in cryptocurrency-related crimes, law enforcement often uses cryptocurrency analysis tools to trace money and deanonymize users.
However, there are currently no studies on the legal and technical aspects of using AI in cryptocurrency systems for law enforcement purposes. The research results from FAIRLEA will be directly applied in practice. In addition to Professor Rückert's team, the project includes the Chair of Information Systems and Human-Centric AI (Prof. Dr. Niklas Kühl) at the University of Bayreuth, Iknaio GmbH in Vienna, and the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office.
Professor Rückert's chair will investigate legal aspects such as data protection law, the EU AI Regulation, and criminal procedure law. At Professor Kühl's chair, researchers will explore how legal requirements can be technically implemented during the training of AI models for cryptocurrency analysis. A data scientist from Iknaio GmbH will examine the forensic and technical possibilities of integrating AI models into existing cryptocurrency analysis tools. As an associated partner, the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office will contribute law enforcement requirements and provide data for research and model testing.
The project is expected to start in June 2025 and will receive total funding of approximately €1.35 million, of which €960,000 will go to the University of Bayreuth.