German intelligence agency chooses French alternative over Palantir

Palantir’s efforts to push into the German security market haven’t paid off. The country’s domestic intelligence agency has just acquired a French alternative to the controversial US data broker.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) just awarded the French company ChapsVision a contract to provide software for analyzing large amounts of data.

German media reports that ChapsVision was chosen over the controversial American company Palantir, which has been aggressively pushing into the German security market for years, according to Heise.de.

The decision comes amid Europe’s increasing efforts to reduce its technological dependence on US providers, a reliance that unnerves security authorities.

The ChapsVision’s AI-based software, called ArgonOS, extracts key information from any data source and formats it before it reaches an analyst, according to the company’s website.

ChapsVision states that the software is stored on an air-gapped, or sovereign cloud, to ensure data safety and privacy.

According to Heise.de, ChapsVision cooperates with the German IT service provider Rola Security Solutions, which is also integrated into the Police Information and Analysis Network (PIAV).

Palantir’s controversial reputation stems from the company’s involvement in US government surveillance and defense programs, raising concerns that its software is being used to commit human rights violations.

The company’s CEO, Alex Karp, has previously openly admitted that Palantir’s product “is used on occasion to kill people.”

Concerns over Palantir’s software use in Germany

Earlier in 2026, the German military's cyber defense chief, Thomas Daum, said the country’s armed forces do not plan to award contracts to Palantir, adding that “it is simply inconceivable at the ‌moment to grant industry staff access to the national database.”

Karp criticized the German armed forces’ decision not to integrate Palantir’s software, calling distrust in the company’s software “misplaced.”

However, three German states, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Bavaria, are using Palantir’s Gotham software, which contains large amounts of personal data, including a person’s address, fines, criminal record, and the contents of scanned social media channels.

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In other words, the technology provides police officers with a comprehensive profile of any person in seconds, according to Deutsche Welle (DW).

Watchdogs oppose the use of technologies like Palantir. The Berlin-based German nonprofit group Society for Civil Rights filed a constitutional complaint against the large-scale data analysis in Bavaria in 2025.

The group says this type of data analysis breaches the fundamental rights to informational self-determination and the confidentiality of telecommunications, which the German constitution guarantees, DW reports.

But while some German agencies seek Palantir alternatives, the UK National Health Service has just granted the company unlimited access to millions of people’s data.

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