The political quake in the Düsseldorf state parliament was quiet, but its consequences could concern the black-green coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia for a long time. Without a dissenting vote, the Green Party’s state delegates’ conference decided on Sunday to withdraw support from the big data company Palantir. The party base is calling on the state government not to conclude any new contracts with the group and to terminate existing agreements as quickly as possible.
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What initially seems like an internal determination of position has political explosive power. The state government under Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) relies on digital police work for internal security, in which data analysis plays an important role. The CDU sees the Palantir software used as an indispensable tool in modern crime fighting. The green base wants an exit. This means a conflict within the coalition is programmed.
For the initiators of the application, it is about more than a single software product. Jürgen Blümer from the Warendorf district association speaks of a return to green basic values. The decision strengthens the party’s profile as an opponent of the surveillance state, as a champion of digital sovereignty and as a force against right-wing extremism.
Ideological differences
In fact, the Palantir deployment has been causing protests for years. Civil rights organizations and the North Rhine-Westphalia data protection officer Bettina Gayk repeatedly warn about the risks of the technology. Palantir’s system, known in North Rhine-Westphalia as a system for cross-database analysis and evaluation (DAR) for the police, can link large amounts of different information sources and create personality profiles. Critics see constitutional problems here. In addition, the use of a US provider contradicts the Greens’ goal of building independent European digital structures.
There are also ideological reservations about company management. Founder and major shareholder Peter Thiel is considered a prominent supporter of Donald Trump and has repeatedly taken positions that critics classify as democratically skeptical. CEO Alex Karp is also causing controversy. The Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde described his latest pamphlet as “techno-fascist”. Such assessments increase the mistrust of many Green party members regarding cooperation with the US company.
Urgent vote also in the country
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The signal effect of the decision extends beyond North Rhine-Westphalia. In Baden-Württemberg, Palantir is also at the center of a political debate. A Green Party vote on further use will take place there in July. After significantly more than the required five percent of members supported the motion, the way is clear for the grassroots democratic process.
The issue is also explosive in the southwest. The CDU-led Interior Ministry procured the software for a lot of money without the consent of its green coalition partner. Officially, Palantir will initially continue to be used and will later be replaced by a European alternative. The upcoming member vote could call this compromise into question.
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