Special software from the US company Palantir is to support the Bavarian police in the fight against crime. The espionage program called VeRA could be in use this year, or next year at the latest. However, data protection experts and the Bavarian State Data Protection Commissioner are concerned.

"Cross-procedural research and analysis system" (VeRA for short) is the name of the software that will help the Bavarian police with investigations in the future. With just one click of the mouse, officers can call up a wealth of information about suspects and their links to other criminals. But what sounds like a good support in the fight against crime turns out to be a double-edged sword in practice. This is because not only the software itself, but also its publishers have been criticized by data protectionists for years.

What exactly is it about?

Until now, it has been time-consuming for police officers to find out all the important information about suspects and their criminal connections. The VeRA software aims to change this. With the help of the program, officers can find everything that is known about a suspect within seconds at the click of a mouse: address, parents, car accidents, previous crimes. Data protectionists complain that it is currently not sufficiently clear whether the data obtained in this way is only accessible to police officers.

Palantir Technologies: How reputable is the software provider?

The software manufacturer is also being criticized. For two reasons. It was founded by controversial tech billionaire Peter Thiel. He had financed the election campaign of former President Donald Trump and other politicians, some of whom were far to the right. In addition, Palantir Technologies received money from the US foreign intelligence service CIA when it was founded - which subsequently became one of Palantir's customers.

Further controls and legislative changes required

Data protectionists criticize: It is not sufficiently ensured that Palantir Technologies does not have access to the data requested by officials. Some even fear that the data could be passed on to the CIA and other US authorities. The Bavarian State Data Protection Commissioner is also critical of the use of VeRA. "Legislation is required to legitimize the considerable encroachment on fundamental rights caused by the software," says Thomas Petri. And: "The legislator must ensure that the software is only used in emergency situations, for example through a judicial reservation. Bavaria's Minister of the Interior has already taken a stand. "VeRA will only be used if the state parliament's interior committee has given its approval," says Joachim Herrmann. Whether VeRA will actually be used has not yet been conclusively clarified. By the end of the year, the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology is to examine the source code of the software in detail for possible data leaks.