exclusive
The nationwide introduction of the controversial police analysis software from the US company Palantir is apparently off the table. Internal documents show that Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria failed with a corresponding proposal.
It should have been a big step: three federal states followed suit BR-Information at the conference of interior ministers in mid-June in Berlin submitted a resolution proposal to use the police analysis software of the controversial US company Palantir nationwide. The declared goal: to improve the analytical skills of the federal and state police authorities in order to combat serious and organized crime. But nothing came of it. Internal documents that dem BR are available, show how Hesse, Bavaria and NRW have failed with their advance.
The driving force behind the proposal was apparently the Hessian Ministry of the Interior. In the run-up to the conference, an email was sent from the ministry of Peter Beuth, CDU, to representatives of the seven other Union-led interior ministries. The aim was to put the nationwide introduction of the Palantir software on the conference agenda. An attached provisional proposal for a resolution states that the use of the Palantir software is “absolutely necessary” in order to “immediately and noticeably improve” the analysis capabilities of the federal and state police forces.
A nationwide introduction of the software under the term “Bundes-VeRA” has been under discussion for some time in order to improve cooperation between the German police authorities. Bavaria concluded a framework agreement with Palantir in 2022, which all federal states and the federal government can access without a new tender.
The US company promises that the program will search several police databases at the same time and that cross-connections can be made visible in investigations. However, the Palantir software is highly controversial among data protectionists. Critics fear that the use of the software could violate data protection principles.
Union countries also reject it resolution proposal away
Hessen has been using Palantir software since 2017. Now the Hessian Ministry of the Interior is apparently hoping to get approval for the proposal from the other Union interior ministries as well. But that didn’t happen: “No joining VeRa,” said the group from Baden-Württemberg. Also from Schleswig-Holstein.
Only the interior ministries from North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria supported the proposal from Hesse in advance – i.e. the countries that also already have ongoing contracts with Palantir. In the end, the proposal was not decided. “The matter was discussed,” says the minutes of the resolution of the conference of interior ministers BR research available.
A few days after the conference, the Federal Ministry of the Interior sent Nancy Faeser, SPD, a clear rejection of Palantir to the federal and state governments. The writing suits him BR before. The management of the ministry decided “not to set up a platform operated by the federal government.” And that, although the project after BR-Information was apparently well advanced. On request, the ministry writes that the goal is now “manufacturer-independent application provision”.
Federal states also reject software
Hesse’s Interior Minister Peter Beuth senses an election campaign tactic by Faeser, who is running as the SPD’s top candidate in the Hessian state elections: “It is very unfortunate that the Federal Interior Minister, of all people, is denying her authorities the modern analysis tool for campaign tactical reasons,” he is quoted as saying in a press release from his ministry . Beuth’s ministry does not mention that the majority of other federal states apparently do not want to use Palantir either.
Several CDU-led interior ministries declared BR-Request that a contract with Palantir is currently out of the question: Schleswig-Holstein’s Ministry of the Interior, for example, reports that no technical need has been identified “that could only be served by Palantir software”. From Saxony it is said that there are currently “no technical requirements that require the use of this software”.
The SPD-led interior ministries of the federal states are even moving away from the US company Palantir: Hamburg’s interior authority, which was originally interested in Palantir software itself, is now emphasizing the “priority of European solutions for larger procurement projects in the security sector” on behalf of the SPD department heads. . One speaks out for a corresponding market analysis.
Interior experts demand their own solution
Konstantin von Notz, interior expert for the Greens, said that BR, it was a right decision not to bet on Palantir. It is high time to decide on a joint solution that lies within their own sovereignty: “There must be no mixing of sovereign activity with private data processing interests and in this respect it is the responsibility of politicians and the authorities to find a solution quickly .”
The domestic policy spokeswoman for the left-wing faction, Martina Renner, also welcomes the federal government’s decision to move away from Palantir. She demands in BR-Interview independent developments of the authorities, for which one has the source code: “This has the great advantage that one then knows exactly what the program does.”
Three countries are Palantir customers
The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that the other federal states can continue to use the Bavarian framework agreement to access Palantir services. Hesse shared BR-Request that you have an ongoing contract and will “continue to use the software in accordance with the legal requirements” on this basis. The police in North Rhine-Westphalia will also continue to use the software “and also report on the positive experiences with the application,” said the Ministry of the Interior there.
Palantir software was also used by the European police authority Europol. Europol abolished them a few years ago. The authority said that it did not meet the requirements of Europol or those of the cooperation partners in the EU member states BR already last year. According to papers that dem BR are available, the German authorities have been fully informed.