Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has expressed reservations about the use of analysis software from the US company Palantir by German security authorities. While it is "important that our investigative authorities have modern tools to solve serious crimes and avert threats," Hubig told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" on Saturday, she added that only means "that are compatible with the principles of the rule of law" can be used.
The Palantir software standardizes data from police sources and makes it suitable for analysis. This should enable investigators to automatically identify suspects and prevent or solve crimes, for example. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is currently investigating the nationwide use of Palantir.
"From a constitutional perspective, special care is required when using software solutions such as those from Palantir," Hubig told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "After all, this involves sensitive data of our citizens." It is "important that potential risks are carefully examined, not least when, as in this case, it involves non-transparent algorithms from a private company."
The state chairman of the Bavarian Police Union, Florian Leitner, told Deutschlandfunk on Saturday that the software was urgently needed. Given that state police forces have different systems, Palantir is "the only alternative" for comparing the entire police database. Leitner said there is no equivalent product from Europe. He believes it is "the wrong approach to always use data protection as an excuse." The Palantir software is already being used by three federal states - North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Bavaria. The same is planned for Baden-Württemberg.
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