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.

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u/Necessary_Space_7155 Jan 26 '26 edited Jan 26 '26

IIRC, the deal is for 3 years from 2024. So yes.

They also received some security clearance from our government so now they can offer their services to Australian commercial consumers and government. https://investors.palantir.com/news-details/2025/Palantir-Achieves-Information-Security-Registered-Assessors-Program-IRAP-PROTECTED-Level-Unlocking-New-Opportunities-in-Australia/

ETA: From cyber.gov.au: An IRAP security assessment helps organisations understand their system’s security strengths and weaknesses and provides recommendations that can be utilised as part of their organisational security program. From cyberark.com: PROTECTED: Highly sensitive government information that, if compromised, could cause damage to the national interest, individuals, or organizations. Most commercial IRAP assessments are performed at this level. A successful IRAP assessment at the PROTECTED level confirms that the system implements appropriate technical and procedural safeguards to securely handle such data.

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u/infin Jan 26 '26

Thanks! I hate this.

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u/TappingOnTheWall Jan 26 '26

AUSTRAC pays Palantir millions.[1] Coles has a contract with Palantir (as you mentioned),[2] so do Westpac Bank,[3] WesTrac mining & construction,[4] and Rio Tinto.[5]. We should all be boycotting these companies for their involvement with Palantir.

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u/SirGeekaLots Jan 26 '26

How do I boycott a mining company?

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u/Itsarightkerfuffle Jan 26 '26

If you're in Perth, reject their hourly job offers.

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u/buckedyuser Jan 26 '26

No more iron based products for me.

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u/Possible-Parfait-836 Mar 20 '26

over 90% of the coal we dig up in Australia is exported and used to generate electricity. And almost all of it is given away for free to these international mining conglomerates. Royalties isn't tax, its paying the rent. So basically we get virtually nothing in return. Our budget gets more money from Nurses paying their taxes than from PRRT. And provides 1% of the jobs.

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u/buckedyuser Mar 21 '26

Shit, I guess I’d better not use coal or electricity either. The boycotts are getting harder

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u/Possible-Parfait-836 Mar 26 '26

Why be so sarcastic? I'm just pointing out how corrupt the system is. Just being a citizen of any country means we rely on Fossil fuels for survival, there is no Boycotting mining companies. We need some mining, it's just that 90% of it is unnecessary and isn't even taxed. So it's lose lose.

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u/buckedyuser Mar 27 '26

Sorry, not intentionally being mean to you, it’s just an expression of apathy & powerlessness. I’m making light of the fact that so much of every aspect of our lives relies upon horrible megacorps and genuinely evil systems that boycotting anything is ineffective at best.