Activists are calling upon Westpac to “come clean” over its relationship with US technology company Palantir, with 27,317 Australians signing a petition calling for the big four bank to cut ties with the company.
Activist group GetUp, which is behind the campaign, has three demands for Westpac: to tell customers what its deal with Palantir covers, to end its contract with the company, and to “Commit to excluding defence and intelligence contractors from Australian banking data infrastructure, for good.”
“Palantir builds the data systems the CIA, the Pentagon, and ICE use to identify and track people for deportation,” GetUp said in an email to its subscribers.
“Westpac’s own human rights position says it has ‘a responsibility to respect human rights across our activities and relationships’. Plenty of data companies don’t build tools for military and intelligence agencies. Westpac picked one that does.”
GetUp is also concerned about Palantir’s legal status as a US firm.
“Switzerland rejected Palantir’s bids nine times in seven years over the risk that the US government could access sensitive data,” GetUp said.
“France is exiting its contract, and the Netherlands and Spain are phasing Palantir out. If national governments won’t trust Palantir with their data, why is Westpac trusting them with ours?”
GetUp also noted that NHS workers in the UK have expressed concerns over Palantir’s contractors gaining access to employee data and has asked Westpac to explain if a similar deal exists here in Australia.
“We’re demanding three things from Westpac: tell customers exactly what the deal covers, end the contracts, and keep defence and intelligence contractors out of Australian banking data for good,” GetUp said.
Cyber Daily has reached out to Westpac for commentary on GetUp’s campaign and demands but has yet to receive a response.
GetUp recently claimed victory following a similar campaign targeting supermarket giant Coles and its own relationship with Palantir. More than 85,000 individuals signed that petition, with Coles eventually announcing it would cut ties with the company in 2027.
However, Coles denied that it was using Palantir’s technology in any surveillance capacity.
“Coles uses this software as a data integration and analytics software platform, which helps our team members make practical, informed decisions across our business,” the company told Cyber Daily at the time.
“The software is used for bakery production planning, trading performance analysis and rostering. It’s an operational platform focused on helping stores run more effectively.
“The software is deployed within Coles’ own environment and is operated and isolated under Coles controls. Palantir does not control the data, nor can it independently repurpose it.”
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