“The ruling said that the Hamburg law, and a similar law in Hesse, “allow police, with just one click, to create comprehensive profiles of persons, groups, and circles,” without differentiating between suspected criminals and people who are connected to them.”
Germany’s top court struck down Hamburg’s Palantir law after 11 claimants sued, including a defense lawyer whose contact list made her a suspect by association. Hesse has run the software since 2017 and gets to keep it until September while it rewrites the rules. Palantir says it welcomes the decision. Of course it does. The tool survived, and only the paperwork has to change.