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A group of Democratic lawmakers demanded that Palantir, a government contractor, disclose details after a report revealed the company was assisting in creating a centralized government database of Americans’ sensitive personal information.
Some shit you should know before you read: A few weeks back, NYT broke a story detailing how Palantir was actively pursuing contracts with agencies like the IRS and the Social Security Administration to provide its data integration and analysis software, Foundry. The Times said that this technology could be used to help the federal government consolidate vast amounts of personal data (including tax records, financial information, and health data) into a single, centralized, searchable database.
Although the company has denied involvement in building such a database, the Times reported that Palantir’s tools are already being deployed within agencies like DHS and HHS. Reactions to this have been mixed. One side believes that creating a centralized database will make the government more efficient by streamlining data access across agencies (ultimately serving the public more effectively). On the other side, critics view the potential database as a serious threat to privacy and warn that consolidating sensitive data into one system creates a “surveillance state” that could be exploited.
Getting into it: In a letter sent to Palantir CEO Alex Karp, Senator Ron Wyden, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and eight other lawmakers demanded detailed information about Palantir’s government contracts, data-sharing practices and legal safeguards, citing fears that the company’s technology could be enabling violations of federal privacy laws.
The letter argues that Palantir may be “enabling and profiting from serious violations of federal law” by supporting efforts to build a searchable “mega-database” that would grant multiple agencies access to sensitive personal data, including tax returns. The lawmakers raised legal concerns under the Internal Revenue Code and the Privacy Act of 1974, both of which restrict unauthorized access to and sharing of such information.
Palantir responds: In a letter to the lawmakers, Palantir said they were “not building a master database, and Palantir is neither conducting nor enabling mass surveillance of American citizens. Palantir’s software is built at every stage to uphold, not undermine, legal and regulatory protections as well as the ethics and standards that help institutions govern the appropriate uses of powerful technologies. Americans are entitled to better government.”
