German Constitutional Court Rules Automated Data Analysis Unconstitutional.
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German Federal Constitutional Court’s first Senate ruled on Thursday that automatic data analysis or automated data interpretation is unconstitutional in the states of Hesse and Hamburg for police departments.
Immediately, both states have to revise their laws regarding the use of the software. A deadline of Sept.30 has been given to Hesse to revise its provisions, while Hamburg’s legislation– which had not yet been used – was revoked.
What were the court’s findings regarding the rules?
“Given the particularly broad wording of the powers, in terms of both the data and the methods concerned, the grounds for interference fall far short of the constitutionally required threshold of an identifiable danger,” the court stated.
“ States can shape the legal basis for further processing of stored data files in a constitutional manner “, said court president Stephan Habarth.
A statement from the constitutional court, “provisions regulating the use of technology in the central state of Hesse and the northern city-state of Hamburg violated the right of informational self-determination.”
The court observed that the data analysis or interpretation by automated means may be justified, but the seriousness of the crimes it poses must be taken into consideration.
“Compatibility with the principle of proportionality is of particular importance, the specific requirements of which depend on the reach of the powers in question. Particularly in the areas of terrorist and extremist violence and organized and serious crime, the police authorities are faced with ever larger data streams that are increasingly heterogeneous in terms of their quality and format.” the court stated.
Also, the court ruled that the provisions do not comply with the proportionality requirement, nor do they meet constitutional requirements, since the police practices do not target an identifiable danger. It is because the justification for preventing criminal acts also includes the use of the data for catching criminals in the future.
Exactly, what does the software do?
US data analytics firm Palantir provides the technology, which was backed early on by intelligence agencies including the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency.
The software facilitates the establishment of relationships between people, groups, or even places and things by connecting information already stored in various police inventories.
There are close to 2,000 police inventories that have access to Hessendata which has been used to investigate terrorism, child sex abuse, and other organized crimes.
Earlier in December, the software has been used to investigate the underground network charged with plotting to overthrow the German Government.
A lawsuit brought by the German Society for Civil Rights (GFF) against police data analysis alleged that Palantir software could produce errors and use innocent people’s data to form suspicions, causing police discrimination against them.
Palantir’s Executive Vice-President for strategy and communications, Jan Hiesserich, stated that’ “Palantir brings the software to the data, not the data to the software”.
In a statement, Peter Beuth, the state minister of the interior of Hesse, said current practices need to be strengthened and codified, but he acknowledged that the ruling recognizes the need for large amounts of data to be handled efficiently in future police work.
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