German Constitutional Court Strikes Down Predictive Algorithms for Policing

Noting specially algorithms.  Meat to control a that level of specification?   Specifications of prediction? 

German Constitutional Court Strikes Down Predictive Algorithms for Policing

By Euractiv, February 17, 2023

Surveillance cameras at a German police station. 

In its ruling, the German Federal Constitutional Court struck down acts providing a statutory basis for police to process stored personal data through automated data analysis, in the case of Hesse, or automated data interpretation, in Hamburg.

The German Federal Constitutional Court declared the use of Palantir surveillance software by police in Hesse and Hamburg unconstitutional in a landmark ruling.

The ruling concludes a case brought by the German Society for Civil Rights (GFF) last year, hearings for which began in December. The plaintiffs argued that the software could be used for predictive policing, raising the risk of mistakes and discrimination by law enforcement. 

The German state of Hesse has been using the software since 2017, though it is not yet in place in Hamburg. The technology is provided by Palantir, a US data analytics firm which received early backing from intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI and NSA. 

The case was brought on behalf of 11 plaintiffs and rested on the argument that the software programme – named 'Hessendata' – facilitates predictive policing by using data to create profiles of suspects before any crime has been committed.

From Euractiv

View Full Article   

Palantir Army Intelligence System

Defense advances with data analysis, actions and reactons.

Palantir Wins Competition to Build Army Intelligence System 
The Washington Post
By Shane Harris

The U.S. Army has chosen Palantir Technologies to deploy a complex battlefield intelligence system for its soldiers, marking the first time the government has selected a Silicon Valley software company, as opposed to a traditional military contractor, to lead a defense program of record. The contract is potentially worth more than $800 million. In March 2018, the Army chose Palantir and Raytheon to compete for the next phase of the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A, for Army), which lets users gather and analyze information about enemy movements, terrain, and weather to create detailed maps and reports in real time. Unlike most Silicon Valley start-ups, Palantir believed from the start that its data analytics tools would find a willing market among U.S. spy agencies and the military, which are constantly trying to manage ever-expanding streams of information..... "