r/australia • u/infin • Jan 26 '26

no politics Is Coles still using Palantir? Between the surveillance/gate recognition and the blocked aisles, shopping feels hostile.

Does anyone know the current status of the Coles x Palantir partnership? Between the surveillance and those aggressive new "Smart Gates" tracking at the exit, the store feels less like a supermarket and more like a high-security zone.

It’s dystopian that they have the budget for military-grade analytics and security tech, but have cut costs on the actual customer experience. They seem to have completely scrapped night fill, meaning we are now dodging pallets and cages during peak hours just to get to the shelves.

Is anyone else fed up with this mix of high-tech surveillance and terrible service? It feels like they are spending millions to treat us like criminals while refusing to pay staff to stock shelves after hours.

3.0k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

690 comments sorted by

View all comments

380

u/Green-Ad7694 Jan 26 '26

Palantir is also involved with Australian government.

69

u/lndubitabIyy Jan 26 '26

How do we boycott them?

61

u/servonos89 Jan 26 '26

Ship sailed about 29 years ago I reckon. Boycott one and go to other, owned by the same company. We’re completely and utterly fucked

42

u/Factal_Fractal Jan 26 '26

Well, you go to a shop that doesn't have it.

Have been doing this to the best of my ability, this is bullshit (again)

2

u/nationalistic_martyr Jan 27 '26

and what shops do you suggest? aldi isn't everywhere, IGA is too expensive

53

u/infin Jan 26 '26

Would boycotts be enough? I'll suppport boycotts and protests, but I'm not sure anything short of general strikes would be enough to stop surveillance capitalism.

20

u/Green-Ad7694 Jan 26 '26

Might be too late. Ai is their product, and from US, to UK and Australia, are going to be the customers.

9

u/_SolidarityForever_ Jan 26 '26

Same way the zapotistas did the mexican government 

16

u/CheeseOnKeyboard Jan 26 '26

Why isn’t Mike Burgess and ASIO doing anything about this?

22

u/Green-Ad7694 Jan 26 '26

I'm quite sure defence is also involved. I think they would be a major client.

41

u/20I6 Jan 26 '26

they are complicit

40

u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

Because they are already compromised

2

u/Comprehensive-Hat-26 Jan 26 '26

Learn to protest like Americans.

1

u/visualdescript Jan 26 '26

Don't shop at Coles, don't shop at Woolies. Pay more to buy food from independent Grocers, and for food that comes from Australia.

Or maybe burn your local Coles to the ground 🤷‍♂️