PARIS, Dec 16 — France’s domestic intelligence agency will continue using the services of US tech firm Palantir for three years, the company said yesterday, despite European fears over data protection and sovereignty.

The renewed contract will see Palantir continue to provide the DGSI agency with its “proprietary software platform, as well as the integration, support and assistance services that are necessary for... deployment and operational use”, it said in a statement.

Since 2003, the company has been developing tools to analyse massive volumes of data, which governments have applied to missions including counter-terrorism.

It said its software was used by the DGSI in recent years “during major national events such as the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

The DGSI has been working with Palantir since 2016 “in the context of risk from severe terrorist threat” and following “broad consultations including with French providers”, the agency told AFP.

Palantir’s software was “at the time the only tool existing on the market that met the needs of the DGSI to address national security concerns”, it added.

Already renewed twice, in 2019 and 2022, the contract has been extended this time “pending the deployment of a new sovereign tool”, the DGSI said.

Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, a right-wing libertarian Silicon Valley billionaire, Alex Karp, and others, with support from America’s CIA overseas spying service.

Campaign groups have for years warned the company’s products pose risks related to mass surveillance, infringements on individual freedoms and data protection.

Palantir, which began turning a profit in 2024, has in recent years pushed to further penetrate the European market, where France is its second-largest market after Britain.

In the UK, several court cases have sought to overturn Palantir’s contract to handle data from the National Health Service (NHS).

The company’s role in France, meanwhile, “remains strictly defined and aligned with the operational and regulatory requirements set by the French authorities”, Palantir said.

The company told AFP that all French data were stored in France and remained under “full control” of the DGSI.

Beyond government, Palantir works for at least 15 per cent of firms in the CAC 40 index of top French companies, such as Airbus, carmaker Stellantis and bank Societe Generale. — AFP