Thread by @VICE

The Palantir user guide shows that police can start with almost no information about a person of interest and instantly know extremely intimate details about their lives.

The capabilities are staggering. bit.ly/2SgyBur

Palantir is one of the most significant and secretive companies in big data analysis.

Palantir software is instrumental to the operations of ICE, which is planning one of the largest-ever targeted immigration enforcement raids this weekend. bit.ly/2SgyBur

Through a public record request, @motherboard has obtained a user manual that gives unprecedented insight into Palantir Gotham, which is used by law enforcement agencies like the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. bit.ly/2SgyBur

The tool aggregates and synthesizes information in a way that gives law enforcement nearly omniscient knowledge over any suspect they decide to surveil. bit.ly/2SgyBur

If police have a name that’s associated with a license plate, they can use automatic license plate reader data to find out where they’ve been, and when they’ve been there. This can give a complete account of where someone has driven over any time period. bit.ly/2SgyBur

With a name, police can find:
• A person's email address
• Phone numbers
• Current and previous addresses
• Bank accounts
• Social security number(s)
• Business relationships
• Family relationships
• Height, weight, and eye color. bit.ly/2SgyBur

The software can map out family members and business associates of a suspect, and theoretically, find the above information about them, too. bit.ly/2SgyBur

The Palantir Gotham user manual obtained by @motherboard for this story is public and viewable on DocumentCloud. bit.ly/30uj1OD

300 California cities secretly have access to Palantir Gotham.

Contracts reveal that nearly 8 million people in northern California are subject to Palantir surveillance tools. bit.ly/2Sfk5mL