A German high court ruled on Thursday that police use of Palantir Technologies' software to prevent crime in several German regions was unlawful.
The German constitutional court has issued a statement, saying that the provisions governing the use of the crime-fighting technology in Hesse and Hamburg breach the right to informational self-determination.
According to Reuters, Hesse has until September 30 to amend its laws, while regulations in Hamburg were deemed null and void since that city has yet to use the software.
The court decided that "grounds for interference fall far short" of the legally acceptable standard of an identified threat due to the powers' "broad wording."
Peter Beuth, Hesse state minister of the interior, noted that present methods must be made stronger and formalized. However, he accepted the verdict since it acknowledged that "police work of the future" must better cope with "large amounts of data."
The official said that, so far, the anti-crime software has been employed to probe into a shadowy organization accused of planning to topple the government of Germany in December, as per VOA News.
Anti-Crime Software Puts Innocent People at Risk
Jan Hiesserich, Palantir's European strategy head, has said that the American firm only offers the tools for data processing rather than the actual data.
The German Society for Civil Rights (GFF) sued police data analysis because Palantir software utilized innocent people's information to generate allegations and might lead to errors, impacting persons at risk of police prejudice.
The Financial Times reported that Palantir, which the CIA backs, is one of several American technology firms that has played a significant role in aiding the Ukrainian military.
