Palantir asserts: Data breach technically unfathomable - Data flows from Palantir's operations have been claimed to be 'technically restricted,' according to their defense.
In Germany, data protection advocates have raised concerns about the use of Palantir's police software, particularly in Bavaria, due to fears of mass surveillance, lack of transparency, and potential infringement on constitutional rights.
The Berlin-based group Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) has highlighted that people subject to analysis by Palantir's software, known as Gotham, remain unaware of their status. This is because current Bavarian law permits the use of the tool even without any indication of risk, contrasting with other German states like Hesse, where legal restrictions have been strengthened following constitutional challenges against similar practices.
The Chaos Computer Club, a prominent hacker collective, has described the use of Palantir in Bavaria as a "dragnet investigation" that connects various datasets for purposes deviating from their original intent. They caution against allowing such automated mass analysis to become routine police practice and criticize the opaque nature of Palantir's US-based software, raising concerns about long-term dependency and lack of transparency.
The police in Germany have full data sovereignty over the Palantir program, deciding who can access it. They argue that the software is used exclusively for preventing crimes, not for subsequent clarification, and changes to state laws were necessary for this.
Palantir, a US-based company, defends against allegations of inadequate data security in the use of its data analysis software by German police forces. A company spokesperson has stated that a transfer or leakage of data from Palantir software to the US is technically impossible. The software is operated on police servers in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Hesse, with no internet or external server connection.
Despite these assurances, data protection advocates remain sceptical about the original purposes for which the data was collected and the potential for Palantir to secretly pass police data to US intelligence agencies via the program. They argue that the software enables broad, automated data mining that can flag individuals without any concrete suspicion, violating fundamental rights such as informational self-determination and confidentiality of communications guaranteed by the German constitution.
- The concerns raised by data protection advocates about Palantir's police software extend beyond just industry finance, as they also question the technology's potential for mass surveillance and infringement on constitutional rights.
- Despite Palantir's claims of robust data security, the lack of transparency in the software's operations has led to speculation about aid to the steel industry, with the fear that secret data transfers to US intelligence agencies could occur.
