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It does happen in the US, and in banks, and not just low-level employees. Palantir sells the service. It has been used by JP Morgan for a few years: https://

It does happen in the US, and in banks, and not just low-level employees. Palantir sells the service. It has been used by JP Morgan for a few years: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel In LOTR the Palantir is used by Sauron to corrupt and subdue Saruman by displaying visions of terror. Coincidentally a Palantir employee in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica were instrumental in the Republicans hard lean into fear-based messaging leading into the 2016 Presidential election.

jgalt212 7y ago
Yes, but IIRC, the project was cancelled or greatly scaled back after Senior Management discovered that Palantir was also reading their emails and just not the drones in Sector 7G.
- riazrizvi 7y ago
  I think it is helpful to remember that this story came to us through good journalism, so we are lucky to know this much, and surely damage-control is a natural next move for a business caught out. What I do know is the technology is on the market, and why wouldn't a business use it if they can do it privately while avoiding the mistakes of JP Morgan?
- smoyer 7y ago
  I almost spit out my coffee because I thought you were about to say: "Yes, but IIRC, the project was cancelled or greatly scaled back after Senior Management discovered that Sauron was also reading their emails and just not the orcs in Sector 7G.
nabnob 7y ago
Wow. How do Palantir engineers sleep at night? Later in the article, it describes how LAPD uses Palantir software - tracking almost everyone in poor neighborhoods at all times. All of this use is completely without warrants, and the police know to avoid mentioning Palantir in court documents so that its use won't be challanged.
- derefr 7y ago
  > All of this use is completely without warrants Do you need a warrant to stake out a public place and write down everything you see? I get the impression that that's the analogous non-automated workload. (Except for the scale; to get equivalent results, you'd have to have thousands of people watching.)
  - EpicEng 7y ago
    >Except for the scale; to get equivalent results, you'd have to have thousands of people watching. Which is the only thing that matters. Sure, warrants aren't necessary, but the concept of mass, automated surveillance is so new that we simply haven't figured out what to do about it yet.
    - magduf 7y ago
      >Sure, warrants aren't necessary, but the concept of mass, automated surveillance is so new that we simply haven't figured out what to do about it yet. We haven't? It seems like we have: we're embracing it wholeheartedly. We're just careful to only use it (for now) on groups of people who don't have much power to push back on it.
      - djtriptych 7y ago
        So who is "we" here?
        magduf 7y ago
        Society, of course. Some people may disagree with it, but the society at large is doing this things, either led by or approved by our political leaders, whom most of the citizens elect.
  - falcolas 7y ago
    It's worth considering that the scale argument is exactly why it didn't require a warrant before. If you only have the man power to invade the privacy of ten people, you'll do so with thought and diligence. However, if you can use the same manpower to invade the privacy of ten- or one-hundred-thousand people, the thought put into who you monitor so closely drops precipitously.

jgalt212 7y ago

Yes, but IIRC, the project was cancelled or greatly scaled back after Senior Management discovered that Palantir was also reading their emails and just not the drones in Sector 7G.

riazrizvi 7y ago
I think it is helpful to remember that this story came to us through good journalism, so we are lucky to know this much, and surely damage-control is a natural next move for a business caught out. What I do know is the technology is on the market, and why wouldn't a business use it if they can do it privately while avoiding the mistakes of JP Morgan?
smoyer 7y ago
I almost spit out my coffee because I thought you were about to say: "Yes, but IIRC, the project was cancelled or greatly scaled back after Senior Management discovered that Sauron was also reading their emails and just not the orcs in Sector 7G.

nabnob 7y ago

Wow. How do Palantir engineers sleep at night? Later in the article, it describes how LAPD uses Palantir software - tracking almost everyone in poor neighborhoods at all times. All of this use is completely without warrants, and the police know to avoid mentioning Palantir in court documents so that its use won't be challanged.

derefr 7y ago
> All of this use is completely without warrants Do you need a warrant to stake out a public place and write down everything you see? I get the impression that that's the analogous non-automated workload. (Except for the scale; to get equivalent results, you'd have to have thousands of people watching.)
- EpicEng 7y ago
  >Except for the scale; to get equivalent results, you'd have to have thousands of people watching. Which is the only thing that matters. Sure, warrants aren't necessary, but the concept of mass, automated surveillance is so new that we simply haven't figured out what to do about it yet.
  - magduf 7y ago
    >Sure, warrants aren't necessary, but the concept of mass, automated surveillance is so new that we simply haven't figured out what to do about it yet. We haven't? It seems like we have: we're embracing it wholeheartedly. We're just careful to only use it (for now) on groups of people who don't have much power to push back on it.
    - djtriptych 7y ago
      So who is "we" here?
      - magduf 7y ago
        Society, of course. Some people may disagree with it, but the society at large is doing this things, either led by or approved by our political leaders, whom most of the citizens elect.
- falcolas 7y ago
  It's worth considering that the scale argument is exactly why it didn't require a warrant before. If you only have the man power to invade the privacy of ten people, you'll do so with thought and diligence. However, if you can use the same manpower to invade the privacy of ten- or one-hundred-thousand people, the thought put into who you monitor so closely drops precipitously.