Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Donald Trump’s allies at Palantir, a parasitic “non-public” firm funded by tax {dollars} and created by the CIA, have taken a beating within the media in latest days. Except the same old pro-regime voices on the legacy media, protection of Trump’s rising alliance with Palantir—a tech agency that’s serving to the administration compile and analyze ever bigger hoards of knowledge on Individuals—media protection has been overwhelmingly unfavorable.
Even the historically pro-Trump corners of social media and the “different” on-line media have begun to see what the Palantir deal is about. It’s about offering new AI instruments to the federal authorities to extra carefully monitor Individuals and their each day habits in a approach by no means earlier than doable.
[For background on this issue, see: “Trump Is Building a Bigger Deep State with the Help of “Libertarian” Peter Thiel.“]
Consequently, Trump’s allies—a few of the company, tax-farming class of Huge Tech fake “entrepreneurs”—have taken to social media to stay up for themselves and their incessant push for extra tax {dollars}.
A living proof is Joe Lonsdale, who self-identifies as an entrepreneur, though his “enterprise mannequin” is usually little greater than “get taxpayer cash.” Lonsdale denounced one among his critics as “retarded,” referred to as a couple of others as “fats man in mother’s basement” after which went on to assert that what Palantir is doing is completely innocent.
Lonsdale is a co-founder of Palantir, together with regime apologist and service provider of loss of life Peter Thiel, so Lonsdale has a private monetary stake in working apologetics for Palantir.
As is so widespread amongst taxpayer funded “non-public” profiteers, Lonsdale performs the sufferer, pretending his firm has been in some way been topic to unfair criticism. (For the same ruse, see Dominion Voting Machines, an organization that’s completely taxpayer funded however is suing its taxpaying critics for “defamation.”
His claims of Palantir’s innocence, nevertheless, are reasonably unconvincing. Lonsdale writes:
“Palantir’s not a “database”; it’s a platform created by 1000s of essentially the most gifted and patriotic Individuals to companion with our DoD to cease assaults and defeat unhealthy guys, whereas defending liberty & privateness.”
Like most of what Lonsdale has to say on this matter, the declare that Palantir is doing nothing mistaken as a result of it’s not a database, is obfuscation. It’s true that Palantir shouldn’t be itself a database, however that’s hardly related. Palantir exists to assist the federal authorities compile and analyze database info at a stage by no means earlier than contemplated. The entire level of Palantir is to make it simpler and sooner for the federal authorities to violate your Fourth Modification rights, after which use that collected knowledge towards you.
As was typical for Lonsdale’s predecessors throughout George W. Bush’s International Warfare on Terror, Lonsdale claims that it’s all simply to seize “the unhealthy guys.” This can be a variation of “in case you haven’t performed something mistaken, you don’t have anything to concern from violations of privateness.” That’s lengthy been the mantra from the FBI and different enemies of freedom. That is apparently Lonsdale’s place as effectively.
Lonsdale continues: “There are a whole lot of comparable varieties of software program and efforts within the USA all through the west.” This can be a typical excuse utilized by advocates of shredding the Invoice of Rights like Lonsdale: “different governments do it. We’re simply doing what different regimes do! So what are you afraid of?”
On this disinformation marketing campaign to buttress the fame of regime-aligned Huge Tech spy corporations, Lonsdale was joined by Wendy Anderson, a former Palantir exec who now self-describes as a “protection tech exec.” Translation: tax-funded company welfare queen.
At any price, she’s rushes to the protection Palantir, claiming she is just and innocently motivated by a want for “trustworthy and correct reporting.” Positive.
She goes on to assert that Palantir shouldn’t be actually doing something of be aware in any respect and is merely “a knowledge integration platform that connects to current programs.” Sure, that’s precisely what its critics have been saying. Palantir exists to take the federal government’s knowledge on hundreds of thousands of Individuals and funnel it right into a platform that’s straightforward to investigate and weaponize towards Individuals. This isn’t completely different from what Anderson is saying. The one distinction is that Anderson is disingenuously attempting to make it feels like no huge deal.
Like Lonsdale, she then makes use of the “different persons are doing it” protection, saying: “Many corporations and authorities businesses use comparable instruments to work with knowledge throughout a number of programs. This isn’t distinctive or nefarious expertise.”
Sure, it’s nefarious. “Information integration” designed to increase authorities manipulation and evaluation of your private knowledge is nefarious. That’s what privateness advocates have been saying for many years. It’s seemingly that Anderson actually believes it’s nice, although. Like Lonsdale, it appears past her comprehension that folks in energy may use these instruments for tyrannical functions. Why? Properly, presumably as a result of she’s buddies with the folks in energy. When one is a part of the ruling class—or at the least adjoining to it—one is more likely to view the ruling class as harmless and “the great guys.”
This angle appears to tell Anderson’s subsequent remark. She states that Palantir’s critics “conflate what software program CAN do with what it IS doing. Sure, knowledge integration instruments can theoretically be misused – so can Excel, SQL databases, or any knowledge device. The [New York Times] article gives no proof of misuse, solely concern about potentialities.”
Once more, Anderson seems impervious to the notion that it is sensible to not give powers to governments that governments can simply misuse. Making it extraordinarily straightforward for the regime to weaponize your private knowledge is extraordinarily harmful. For this reason individuals who perceive how governments work are cautious about such issues. For Anderson nevertheless, the truth that she hasn’t noticed the federal government abuse this energy is proof that it’s nothing to fret about. It’s tough to know if she truly believes this, however naturally, it’s the angle we must always anticipate from somebody who’s a “protection tech exec.” Their tax-fueled earnings rely on creating new instruments to make authorities extra highly effective. There’s some huge cash available in doing so.
