Black box Palantir: To Karlsruhe against mass data mining
The Bavarian police are mass monitoring people who have never been suspected of committing a crime. They are using software from Palantir for this data mining — without transparency, control mechanisms, or protection against discrimination. The GFF is taking this case to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Why does data mining violate fundamental rights?
This extensive analysis of data violates, among other things, the fundamental right to informational self-determination and telecommunications privacy. The aim of the constitutional complaint is to set clear limits for the authorities when using data mining software.
The software secretly analyzes citizens' data. They are unaware of this, just as they are unaware of any surveillance measures that may follow. Under the current law, the police are allowed to use the software not only for particularly serious crimes, but also before any danger exists. There are no clear legal limits on the use of analysis software. Nor is there any guarantee against software errors — the algorithms often have discriminatory effects.
What does the Federal Constitutional Court say on AI data mining?
Following constitutional complaints by the GFF, the Federal Constitutional Court set narrow limits on automated data analysis by the police in a landmark ruling in 2023. In doing so, the court suspended mass data analysis by the police in Hesse and Hamburg and set important standards for data mining. The Bavarian legislature has not complied with these standards.
The eight complainants include a criminal defense lawyer, activists, and members of the fan support group for the SpVgg Fürth soccer club. Johannes König, musician and co-organizer of the NoBayPAG demonstrations, emphasizes: “As if the Bavarian Police Tasks Act were not already shaped by enough authoritarianism, the state government is now also relying on surveillance software developed by right-wing conspiracy ideologist Peter Thiel. Karlsruhe must stop this latest development.”
Another constitutional complaint by the GFF is pending against the police law in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the authorities also use Gotham from Palantir. The tech company Palantir, owned by US investor Peter Thiel, who is close to Trump, has been criticized for producing software for use in war zones and for intelligence services, among other things.
Since when has the police in Bavaria been using Palantir software for surveillance?
The Society for Civil Rights is filing a constitutional complaint against Bavaria together with the Chaos Computer Club. Bavaria's police used the surveillance software for at least a year without any legal basis. It was only after a complaint from data protection officers that a legal framework was established at all.
Palantir's grid search covers an enormous number of people. Previously separate data sets that were intended for very different purposes are now linked together. For this reason alone, automated mass analysis must not become part of everyday police work. But the merged data also ends up in deliberately opaque software from the US company Palantir, on which the police will be dependent for years to come. These are clear criteria for excluding this data from the inner workings of the police.
The constitutional complaint is an important component of the GFF's efforts to bring the excessive surveillance powers of the security authorities within the limits of the rule of law. Clear standards, transparent government action, and adequate control mechanisms are more important than ever for increasingly digital police investigations.
