The Dutch defense ministry wants to stop using Palantir

The Netherlands Ministry of Defense is considering replacing controversial US data broker Palantir’s software in the next two years.

State Secretary for Defense Derk Boswijk said in the House of Representatives on June 2nd that a “fully fledged alternative” must be available within two years.

However, not earlier, because the replacement would introduce “limited security risks,” according to a Tweakers report, machine-translated by Cybernews.

Boswijk said Palantir has been used since 2010 on a ”very limited, compartmentalized, and small-scale.”

Investigative journalism platform Follow The Money recently reported that Palantir software is also used by the Special Operations Command, which plays a crucial role in covert military operations.

Palantir has earned its controversial reputation due to its involvement in US government surveillance, immigration enforcement, and defense programs, raising concerns that its software is being used to commit human rights violations.

Meanwhile, its co-founder, Peter Thiel, has fiercely criticized the EU for its regulatory environment.

Many European governments, including France, Germany, the UK, and Greece, rely on Palantir software. However, the continent’s recent push for digital sovereignty is prompting governments to rethink their choices.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency recently awarded the French company ChapsVision a contract to provide software for analyzing large amounts of data, choosing it over Palantir, despite the US company's aggressive lobbying efforts.

​The UK Parliament's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee has recently called reliance on Palantir in public sector digital systems an “unacceptable weakness,” urging it to review the National Health System’s £330m ($443m) deal with the company.

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