7 ms·

How is a stupid Java app with clueless consultants going to help against covid? Or is it Thiel selling yet more snake oil?

dogma1138 7y ago
Im guessing contact tracing, it should actually be pretty decent for this if they can get good inputs.
- nogabebop23 7y ago
  Yes, that was my thought. Contact tracing is likely the top reason Singapore. S. Korea (and to a lesser extent Japan) were able to selectively & aggressively contain infections, along with active policing and enforcement. Palantir's core focus is on databases for tracking "assets" with a geographic component, so it would seem like a natural application. If this reduces the need and application for nation-wide bans like contact tracing did in Singapore than whatever the cost it will be a rounding error.
  - tastroder 7y ago
    > than whatever the cost it will be a rounding error. "Whatever the cost" disregards the non-monentary costs of giving a player like Palantir access to this data. If you need to implement digital help for contact tracing, at least pretend to do it in a privacy-preserving manner (plenty of attempts out there). There's no need to give surveillance data to the security apparatus of another country just because they have a few spreadsheets already.
  - new2628 7y ago
    > Contact tracing is likely the top reason Singapore. S. Korea (and to a lesser extent Japan) were able to selectively & aggressively contain infections, along with active policing and enforcement. That and masks on people's faces.
  - dogma1138 7y ago
    It’s also pretty decent at constructing social networks and interaction graphs form different types of data which is what they pitch for fraud detection and tracing. Basically one of their only models that actually works seems to be suited for contact tracing nearly perfectly. I understand the reservations of people here regarding the company itself tho, but I’m not against it as a blanket statement. E.G. on prem installation on German government servers with German staff doesn’t seem like an overreach, especially considering that the German government is already a client.
- throwawaymanbot 7y ago
  There are other companies that can do it. Palantir is not the one to be allowed do this.
2OEH8eoCRo0 7y ago
Thiel thinks he is the first to discover that government contracts pay exorbitantly for software that under delivers.
- wmeredith 7y ago
  And HN thinks they're the first ones to be mad about it ;)
- starfallg 7y ago
  Inviting a lot of unwanted attention too, given his reputation. This is going to be interesting.
- pstuart 7y ago
  Thiel is your classic contemporary libertarian: no government except when there's money to be made or self interests are at stake.
chrisseaton 7y ago
What has the language it’s written in got to do with it?
- zymhan 7y ago
  Because no good technology is written in an out-of-style language! \s
- animalnewbie 7y ago
  In general Java's ubiquity means that a lot of substandard programmers know java. Nothing wrong with the language per se.
nabnob 7y ago
Governments love having an excuse to increase their surveillance of citizens. First it was terrorism, now it is coronavirus.
tasogare 7y ago
The goal is not to fight the epidemic, it’s probably to track: (1) current social networks talk about the no-go zones that don’t respect confinement, and (2) see if any Gilets Jaunes 2.0 or any revolutionary groups is forming. The risk is real for the government, which was already hugely unpopular and as handled the crisis catastrophically (see below). Government mistake includes: - doing nothing for two months - lying about the dangerousness of the virus - saying that masks are useless for citizens yet requesting all available - sending masks to China at the beginning of epidemic - not restocking masks despite the existence of a pandemic emergency stock - neglecting hospitals for decades (staff was striking a few months ago) - battling the potential treatment of Pr. Raoult because of a personal feud between him and the ministry of health’s husband - putting chloroquine under toxic medicine list just as the epidemic starts - changing the layout of the paper need to present to police everyday - enforcing confinement on a part of the population but not another one - ... I probably forget a lot more Sources: French media, friends, family and social networks. People are genuinely angry at the govt response and some are already talking in insurrectional terms.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- jacobush 7y ago
  Phew, I was getting worried there for a second for the US. If any Gilets Jaunes would form in the US, they wouldn't turn on the administration. And they'd be more of "Gilets Brune" anyway. They'd be on the side of the administration ready to torch whatever group must bear the blame. Some Palantir-like intelligence can be very useful when you want to direct your s̵h̵o̵c̵k̵ ̵t̵r̵o̵o̵p̵s̵ supporters to peacefully protest.
- angry_octet 7y ago
  Sounds like they've done about twice as well as the US Govt then. I don't think they need to worry about manifestations because going to one is a fast pass to getting COVID-19.

dogma1138 7y ago

Im guessing contact tracing, it should actually be pretty decent for this if they can get good inputs.

nogabebop23 7y ago
Yes, that was my thought. Contact tracing is likely the top reason Singapore. S. Korea (and to a lesser extent Japan) were able to selectively & aggressively contain infections, along with active policing and enforcement. Palantir's core focus is on databases for tracking "assets" with a geographic component, so it would seem like a natural application. If this reduces the need and application for nation-wide bans like contact tracing did in Singapore than whatever the cost it will be a rounding error.
- tastroder 7y ago
  > than whatever the cost it will be a rounding error. "Whatever the cost" disregards the non-monentary costs of giving a player like Palantir access to this data. If you need to implement digital help for contact tracing, at least pretend to do it in a privacy-preserving manner (plenty of attempts out there). There's no need to give surveillance data to the security apparatus of another country just because they have a few spreadsheets already.
- new2628 7y ago
  > Contact tracing is likely the top reason Singapore. S. Korea (and to a lesser extent Japan) were able to selectively & aggressively contain infections, along with active policing and enforcement. That and masks on people's faces.
- dogma1138 7y ago
  It’s also pretty decent at constructing social networks and interaction graphs form different types of data which is what they pitch for fraud detection and tracing. Basically one of their only models that actually works seems to be suited for contact tracing nearly perfectly. I understand the reservations of people here regarding the company itself tho, but I’m not against it as a blanket statement. E.G. on prem installation on German government servers with German staff doesn’t seem like an overreach, especially considering that the German government is already a client.
throwawaymanbot 7y ago
There are other companies that can do it. Palantir is not the one to be allowed do this.

2OEH8eoCRo0 7y ago

Thiel thinks he is the first to discover that government contracts pay exorbitantly for software that under delivers.

wmeredith 7y ago
And HN thinks they're the first ones to be mad about it ;)
starfallg 7y ago
Inviting a lot of unwanted attention too, given his reputation. This is going to be interesting.
pstuart 7y ago
Thiel is your classic contemporary libertarian: no government except when there's money to be made or self interests are at stake.

chrisseaton 7y ago

What has the language it’s written in got to do with it?

zymhan 7y ago
Because no good technology is written in an out-of-style language! \s
animalnewbie 7y ago
In general Java's ubiquity means that a lot of substandard programmers know java. Nothing wrong with the language per se.

nabnob 7y ago

Governments love having an excuse to increase their surveillance of citizens. First it was terrorism, now it is coronavirus.

tasogare 7y ago

The goal is not to fight the epidemic, it’s probably to track: (1) current social networks talk about the no-go zones that don’t respect confinement, and (2) see if any Gilets Jaunes 2.0 or any revolutionary groups is forming. The risk is real for the government, which was already hugely unpopular and as handled the crisis catastrophically (see below). Government mistake includes: - doing nothing for two months - lying about the dangerousness of the virus - saying that masks are useless for citizens yet requesting all available - sending masks to China at the beginning of epidemic - not restocking masks despite the existence of a pandemic emergency stock - neglecting hospitals for decades (staff was striking a few months ago) - battling the potential treatment of Pr. Raoult because of a personal feud between him and the ministry of health’s husband - putting chloroquine under toxic medicine list just as the epidemic starts - changing the layout of the paper need to present to police everyday - enforcing confinement on a part of the population but not another one - ... I probably forget a lot more Sources: French media, friends, family and social networks. People are genuinely angry at the govt response and some are already talking in insurrectional terms.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
jacobush 7y ago
Phew, I was getting worried there for a second for the US. If any Gilets Jaunes would form in the US, they wouldn't turn on the administration. And they'd be more of "Gilets Brune" anyway. They'd be on the side of the administration ready to torch whatever group must bear the blame. Some Palantir-like intelligence can be very useful when you want to direct your s̵h̵o̵c̵k̵ ̵t̵r̵o̵o̵p̵s̵ supporters to peacefully protest.
angry_octet 7y ago
Sounds like they've done about twice as well as the US Govt then. I don't think they need to worry about manifestations because going to one is a fast pass to getting COVID-19.