Slate Daily Feed What Next: TBD | Is Palantir Building a Data Big Brother?
Jun 6, 2025
Sheera Frenkel, a tech reporter for the New York Times, dives into the controversial role of Palantir in government data management. They discuss the troubling implications of consolidating sensitive information, juxtaposing the U.S. system with those in Russia and China. Frenkel highlights employee concerns about privacy and data ethics, especially regarding the company's connections to the Trump administration. The conversation raises essential questions about national security versus individual rights in the era of big data.
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Palantir's Centralized Data Role
- Palantir is becoming central to consolidating disparate government data silos into one system. - This consolidation could mirror surveillance practices seen in authoritarian regimes like Russia and China.
Potential Uses of Centralized Data
- Centralizing government data aims to reduce waste and detect fraud but raises ethical concerns. - It could enable faster deportation of undocumented immigrants by aggregating multiple data sources.
Risks of Merging Government Data Silos
- Some government silos are intentionally built to protect privacy and their removal risks irreversible data merging. - Once merged, disentangling centralized data would be technically difficult and may defy future legal rulings.