Coles is ending its partnership with Palantir after months of pressure over the US tech company’s work with immigration authorities and the military.
The supermarket confirmed its contract will not be extended beyond 2027, wrapping up a deal that started in early 2024.
“Coles and Palantir have agreed to conclude their partnership after three years of collaboration,” Coles said in a statement provided to Yahoo News.
The decision comes after a months of public pressure, including a campaign by GetUp, which urged Coles to ditch Palantir and gathered more than 83,000 signatures. The group also ran digital billboards outside Coles stores and supported a shareholder push for the company to look more closely at its data practices and human rights obligations.
GetUp interim chief executive Paul Ferris said the result was overdue.
“Credit where it’s due: ending this contract is the right call for Coles’ customers and workers, and we welcome it,” Ferris said in an email sent to signatories.
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What is Palantir?
Palantir was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and makes software that helps organisations sort through and analyse large amounts of data. Its work stretches from major companies to government agencies, including supplying technology to ICE and the US military with systems used in intelligence and targeting work.
Coles has maintained throughout the campaign that the software was not connected to CCTV, facial recognition, customer surveillance or crime-prevention measures. Instead, it said Palantir’s technology was used inside Coles’ own systems for tasks such as rostering, bakery production planning, supply-chain work and reviewing trading performance.
“The software is deployed within Coles’ own environment and is operated and isolated under Coles controls,” a Coles spokesperson said. “Palantir does not control the data, nor can it independently repurpose it.”
Palantir also rejected suggestions it was collecting Coles customer data. In August, a spokesperson said the company had “no interest” in mining, scraping or monetising the supermarket’s information.
Coles has not explained why it will not renew the arrangement, and neither company has confirmed when the transition will be complete.
Palantir is still used in other parts of Australia, including Rio Tinto and Australia’s Department of Defence.
Lead image: Getty
