Palantir faces scrutiny over data privacy concerns in Germany

The potential for Palantir, a data analytics company known for its ties to the new Trump administration and the Pentagon in the US, to surveil all of Germany in the future has sparked debate.

According to the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD, the next German government plans to facilitate police access to automated data searches. This requires standardized analysis software like Palantir’s.

The traffic light coalition, which dissolved in November, and SPD Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had rejected the use of Palantir. Instead, a separate IT system was to be developed to enable more efficient analysis of the increasing volume of data.

However, according to a report in the Berliner Zeitung, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed in coalition negotiations that the CSU would take over the Federal Ministry of the Interior in the future, which means that Palantir would have a greater chance at the federal level.

In Bavaria, where the CSU is in power, the state police have been using the US company’s software since August of last year.

According to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, the cross-procedural research and analysis platform VeRA makes it possible to “quickly and reliably analyze and process large amounts of data from a wide variety of sources and to produce important findings at high speed.”

Hessen and North Rhine-Westphalia are also currently using Palantir. According to information obtained from Bayerischer Rundfunk, Berlin and Baden-Württemberg are also currently considering cooperating with the company.

The Federal Council is also increasing pressure for the nationwide use of the software. In a motion for a resolution on March 21, the Council called for “the central provision of a jointly operated data analysis platform in the short term, as is used by some state police forces.”

Although Palantir is not mentioned by name, the motion leaves little doubt as to the intended solution. It is not yet clear whether the black-red (CDU-SPD) federal government will implement the Federal Council’s plan, but the signs are increasing.

For now, resistance is coming from the Greens. Security policy spokesman Konstantin von Notz told the taz newspaper, “Palantir has been highly controversial for many years for a number of reasons,” arguing that the software has never met their expectations of security policies. The Green politician pointed out that even the European police agency Europol is now refraining from using this software.

Von Notz also emphasized that the use of the software involves significant risks under European and constitutional law. The software has already been criticized many times at the state level. The Green MP said, “Especially in view of the extremely unstable behavior of the Trump administration and the company management’s dubious connections, we believe that the issue of use should in any case be completely reassessed.”

Criticism of Palantir comes primarily from human rights and data protection organizations. These organizations criticize, among other things, the lack of data security, its proximity to the US government, and the potential misuse of the software.

Palantir is seen by many as a “data octopus”: the company develops technologies that can analyze large amounts of data, including personal data. Critics fear that this could lead to mass surveillance and “transparent citizens.”

The company’s close cooperation with the US military and the Pentagon is also criticized. Palantir is accused of being part of surveillance and war technologies. The company is also part of immigrant surveillance activities in American border regions.

Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, which recently signed an agreement with NATO, called on Silicon Valley to take action to “defend” the US and Western civilization.