How Europol is cozying up to Microsoft, Palantir, Clearview & Co.

Europol is intensifying its cooperation with US tech companies. The civil rights organization Statewatch criticizes this alliance in a research report as opaque and a source of massive conflicts of interest. The cooperation is reportedly so close that Microsoft employees already have their own workstations at the EU police agency's headquarters in The Hague. Furthermore, a Europol official explicitly called on companies at the InCyber Forum, held this year in Lille, France, to forward proprietary data directly via a new Cyber Intelligence Gateway to improve coordination. The basis for this development is the controversial expansion of Europol's mandate in 2022, which simplifies data exchange with private and public entities, enables big data analysis, and promotes the use of AI-powered investigative tools.

Europol frequently refers to "trade secrets" or "data protection" to withhold details about contracts or licensing, according to the analysis. A particularly controversial example is the multi-year use of the big data platform Gotham from Palantir. Although the software, which is also controversial in Germany, is reportedly the basis for numerous predictive policing and surveillance tools at Europol, according to Statewatch, the agency has blocked press inquiries about it. Of 69 documents concerning the Palantir collaboration, only two have been released, even though Europol after the breach even considered legal action against the US company. Facial recognition company Clearview AI, in which Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel is involved, also presented its technology at Europol. However, the EU's data protection officer explicitly requested that no services from Clearview be used, as this would likely violate the Europol regulation.

"Who's Who" of the Surveillance Industry

The "revolving door" phenomenon, where agency employees frequently move to the private sector, also appears increasingly problematic. This risk is likely to intensify as the EU Commission aims to double Europol's staff. One case involves an ex-cybercrime specialist who moved to Maltego Technologies immediately after leaving in 2023. Europol refused to provide further details. Another company in Europol's orbit is Cellebrite, an Israeli tech giant that supplies software for extracting data from mobile phones. Its programs have been used in the past for surveillance of journalists and activists, among others. The fact that the head of European sales at Cellebrite previously held a senior position at state trojan developer NSO Group (Pegasus) underscores the conflict potential of such alliances.

The central venue for this rapprochement is the annual "Research and Industry Days." This is a platform introduced by Europol in 2024, where dozens of tech companies and associations present their AI-based surveillance and data analysis tools. The technologies presented range from systems for spying on asylum seekers' mobile phones to advanced tools like the "Voice Inspector" for voice recognition, means against deepfakes, or drone interfaces. Researchers complain that such events guarantee participants an unusually high degree of confidentiality. They view this practice as a "preventive guarantee against the release of information," which further complicates accountability and public oversight of the increasing "private-public policing" at Europol.

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