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> Twitter said it has a long-standing policy barring third parties, including Dataminr, from selling its data to a government agency for surveillance purposes.
by spenvo 10y ago
> Twitter said it has a long-standing policy barring third parties, including Dataminr, from selling its data to a government agency for surveillance purposes. The company wouldn’t comment on how Dataminr—a close business partner—was able to provide its service to the government for two years, or why that arrangement came to an end.
So why was the exception made to this policy?
> In-Q-Tel, a venture-capital arm of the U.S. intelligence community, has been investing in data-mining companies to beef up the government’s ability to sort through massive amounts of information. In-Q-Tel, for example, has invested in data-mining firms Palantir Technologies Inc. and Recorded Future Inc.
> U.S. intelligence agencies gained access to Dataminr’s service after an In-Q-Tel investment in the firm, according to a person familiar with the matter.
> When a pilot program arranged by In-Q-Tel ended recently, Twitter told Dataminr it didn’t want to continue the relationship with intelligence agencies, this person said.
VC funds led by US agencies that operate on a quasi-legal and opaque basis is the worst form of crony capitalism
Open version of the article http://www.wsj.com/article_email/twitter-bars-intelligence-agencies-from-using-analytics-service-1462751682-lMyQjAxMTE2MzAwODUwNzgzWj http://www.wsj.com/article_email/twitter-bars-intelligence-a...
- misiti3780 10y agocoming from someone who worked as a govt consultant, In-Q-tel is a scary entity
- chillacy 10y agoHow so? I've pitched them in the past. They behaved like a VC firm with government interests.
- MacsHeadroom 10y ago>a VC firm with government interests That right there. That's the scary part.
- jonnybgood 10y agoAnd why is that scary?
- ourcat 10y agoMaybe because their motives are purely financial, rather than what's good for the rights of the people?
- saryant 10y ago...like all VC firms?
- stevehawk 10y agoThe only thing your comment right there proved is that you don't know what you're talking about. They don't operate on a financial motivation. They have literally no requirement to do so. What they do is identify commercial products that any/all of the federal government may be interested in using and fund it if possible, or at least try to fund partial features. For example, Google Earth was funded by In-Q-Tel long before Google bought the product. In fact, many startups use In-Q-Tel funding as a badge of honor when pitching to VCs later on, as it shows a potential revenue source given the existing financial commitment.
- ourcat 10y agoHave you ever taken institutional funds for any projects you founded? I did. It's ugly. And driven by pure financial greed. Sucking the soul from the original intent. The same financial greed currently eating the world and ruining people's lives. Sorry. Am I not allowed an opinion? The only thing your reply right there proved is that you don't know me at all. I'm also aware of the government/defence dept. backing of the foundations of the internet itself. Thanks.
- vidarh 10y agoLots of governments operate very benign VC firms. E.g. to promote regional development etc. I don't see what you see as scary about that part.