Palantir under pressure – European alternatives come into focus

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The debate surrounding the use of Palantir software in police work is dividing politicians, authorities, and civil society. While some federal states such as Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are backing the US solution, others are vehemently calling for independent alternatives. Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Daniela Behrens recently put it in a nutshell: Palantir is "unmanageable" and therefore not an option. In an interview with heise online, legal scholar Dr. Jonas Botta also warns of far-reaching constitutional and data protection problems with the use of Palantir software. "The state should be able to penetrate the system technically and in terms of content – even if business secrets are involved. This is the only way it can monitor whether fundamental rights are being observed. But this is precisely the problem with Palantir", said Botta. Strict legal foundations, independent monitoring and seriously examined European offers are required.

In fact, resolutions by the Federal Council, applications by the federal states, and the position of data protection officers have documented a clear interest in alternatives for years. However, while the police unions consider Palantir to be "without alternative", German providers are increasingly emerging from the shadows – with solutions that aim to impress in terms of functionality, data sovereignty and legal compliance. Critics therefore accuse the German government of deliberately ignoring alternatives.

Support for Palantir comes from the CDU/CSU, for example. Former Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt recently told Stern magazine: "I don't have any reservations about software just because it comes from Palantir. What matters to me is that we can solve crimes and prevent further ones. This software is already doing a good job in some federal states. The state interior ministers confirm this to me."

Political front lines

At least seven federal states – including Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate – have actively spoken out against the use of Palantir. On the other side is primarily Bavaria, which uses Palantir's software as a "cross-procedural research and analysis platform" (VeRA) and promotes its nationwide use. At the end of July, the Society for Civil Liberties lodged a constitutional complaint against "systematic police data analysis in Bavaria", which allows the police to carry out "data mining".

There are contradictions at federal level: the Ministry of the Interior is looking into wider use, but emphasizes that the market has hardly been systematically explored to date. Critics therefore accuse the federal government of deliberately ignoring alternatives.

The selection of German analytics platforms such as NasA, Bardioc, One Data and Yoonite is largely determined by two key requirements: digital sovereignty and compliance with the requirements of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). The BVerfG ruling of 2023 sets strict fundamental rights standards for police data analysis. Tenders and product development must take these principles into account.

Digital sovereignty as a selection criterion

Digital sovereignty means that open standards, transparency, and the ability to audit source code allow a system change if necessary and strengthen the independence of the police and administration.

The complete development and control lies with German or European providers – this avoids functionalities or backdoors forced from outside. German products store all data exclusively in Germany or the EU, thus avoiding access by foreign authorities and legislators such as the US CLOUD Act.

The nationwide use of Palantir has not been legally clarified in Germany, and calls for alternatives are growing. Several providers are advertising digitally sovereign alternatives to the US software.

Bardioc

The Bardioc platform from Almato AG, which belongs to Datagroup, sees itself as a semantic database for applications, similar to Palantir. According to the manufacturer, it is highly scalable – up to 100 petabytes –, "neartime-capable" and has its own ontology. Together with partners such as Disy Informationssysteme GmbH from Karlsruhe, Bardioc offers specialized applications for security authorities – through to map-based analyses and reports.

According to Bardioc, a reasoning engine enables complex reasoning and AI-supported knowledge processes. Authorities should thus be able to develop customized applications that can be used without in-depth IT training. Bardioc can provide the semantic database for applications, while Disy provides specialist applications, analysis tools and location intelligence based on semantic data "that are already in use at numerous security authorities". Police officers, for example, can use dedicated "specific applications" that "can be used for a very specific purpose [...] and can be operated without any training or programming knowledge", says a company spokesperson when asked by heise online.

According to the company, various customers are currently using "the Bardioc platform in Germany and abroad" with different use cases. "In addition to previous successful projects in the government environment", the company is also working for a federal ministry and with other authorities, for example in Baden-Württemberg.

In response to criticism that Palantir alternatives are not ready for use, the company explains: "Palantir was strategically developed and financed by US security authorities over decades". Investments in Palantir alternatives have not yet been made for various reasons. "However, there are successfully established and very competitive pieces of Palantir technology in Germany as well," said the spokesperson.

One Data

One Data is also presenting itself as a serious Palantir alternative. According to the company, talks have already taken place with the Federal Ministry of the Interior. According to founder Andreas Böhm, the platform was designed in such a way that different sources can be connected – from police IT systems to specialist applications and registers. "In contrast to monolithic platforms, we rely on open standards, interfaces (APIs) and modular integration," promises Böhm. Authorities retain full data sovereignty at all times and can dock on flexibly for federal or cross-state collaboration thanks to interoperability.

A "Spark Engine" is used for "high-performance data analysis". This enables One Data to process and analyze millions of data records in near real time, which would be comparable to the capabilities of Palantir. The company works closely with its customers to ensure a good user experience.

According to Böhm, thanks to self-developed components such as "Link AI", it is possible to reliably merge data sets that are difficult to combine. "With integrated machine learning processes, we enable pattern recognition across a large amount of data in a high-performance manner, which makes it possible to quickly recognize correlations," promises Böhm.

One Data is developed and operated entirely in Germany, enables on-premise installations and, according to One Data, meets the highest data protection and security standards.

NasA

The "NasA" project, National Sovereign Analytics Platform, developed by the consortium around Secunet, demonstrated the fundamental feasibility of a German analytics platform, but was not pursued further due to a lack of start-up funding. Secunet CTO Kai Martius emphasizes that German solutions score particularly well in terms of transparency, data sovereignty and compliance. Especially considering constitutional requirements – such as the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court from 2023 –, a European solution is more realistic and more secure in the long term. Aspects such as "data security, sovereign technology, practical operation, a truly secure access service, an audit-proof log-in, strict data separation, workflow management and a sovereign operating platform" are important. Secunet is therefore confident that it can develop a solid alternative to the US offer in consortia of German companies. Initial talks on resuming the project are underway, as interest has recently increased once again.

As long as there are no "clear commitments" from politicians, the industry's willingness to invest is low. "And on the other hand, the supposed lack of suitable sovereign solutions then drives politicians towards US solutions. This vicious circle must be broken," demands Martius. What is needed are "at least purchase guarantees as in the defense industry, as this is also a niche market".

Secunet is ready to get involved again "and is currently holding initial talks with potential partners". Also asked about the criticism of Palantir alternatives, Martius says: "Not everything that US companies offer is required or even permitted in this country. Conversely, there are also points where German providers are ahead – just think of transparency, data sovereignty and compliance". According to Martius, the situation is comparable to that in the cloud environment. While US-based market players have economies of scale on their side, European providers are focusing on the sovereignty and security of their offerings.

Yoonite

Yoonite from FSZ GmbH in Metzingen can be implemented in state police forces within a few months, says the manufacturer. The software brings together structured and unstructured data in a standardized information network and allows flexible extensions via a "MetaModel".

According to FSZ GmbH, unstructured data such as emails, documents, social media posts, images, videos, audio files, scans, PDFs and presentations are stored as objects in object classes such as Document, Chat, Image and others. "These object classes can establish relationships with all other object classes and are therefore an integral part of the entire information network and are ultimately no different from structured data," says a spokesperson for the company. As objects, their properties, and relationships can be adapted and extended at any time, any new data sources can be connected quickly. According to the company, "forms, overviews, diagrams, dependency/relationship graphs, representations in geographical maps, reports" and the like can be implemented "in the shortest possible time and optimized for the respective technical requirements".

According to Yoonite, special emphasis is placed on transparency (complete historization of every data change) and data sovereignty. Accordingly, FSZ GmbH promises that all customers retain full control, including over operations.

There is already interest from police authorities in individual federal states. There are contacts with state police forces, but concrete pilot projects depend on political decisions and tenders. However, it should be noted that the "specific requirements, also regarding the legal framework, have not yet been defined, and it is therefore premature to look at specific products". It will therefore only be possible for all alternatives to move forward once clear legal requirements have been established.