Thread by @StefSimanowitz

42/. Amid concerns, US procurement records reveal #Palantir was awarded govt contracts worth +$42m on pandemic response.

Although the HHS has said the data will remain anonymous, @FaizaPatelBCJ of @BrennanCenter warns said data can be de-anonymized, too.
nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news…

43/. In a letter, more than 30 members of Congress, including @ewarren & @JulianCastro have called greater transparency on how Palantir will use HHS data & guarantees that it will be kept anonymised. In 2017/18 Palantir’s data helped aid ICE deportations.
washingtonpost.com/technology/202…

44/. As with the NHS, #Palantir was awarded the #COVID19 contracts without tendering.

Palantir is rprtdly aiding national #COVID response efforts of over a dozen countries, including Greece, Austria, Spain & Canada & is in talks with “several dozen” countries around the world.

45/. Palantir is also making its software available for free to govts.

This wouldn’t be the 1st time Palantir offered its services for free, e.g. in New Orleans, they deployed a predictive policing system that even city council members didn’t know about.
google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thev…

46/. In January, @Slate published a list of "the most dangerous tech companies in the world".

They polled journalists, academics, advocates etc. & drew up a list of 30 companies.

#Palantir came fourth!
1. Amazon
2. Facebook
3. Alphabet
4. Palantir
slate.com/technology/202…

47/. “We’ve arranged a society based on science & technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance & power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces.” (Carl Sagan,1996)

I think it is blowing up NOW!

48/. In the interests of journalistic impartiality, please see #Palantir's statement on privacy & civil liberties.

It finishes by saying: "The end goal should be... incorporating technical capabilities that can support responsible data handling policies." palantir.com/pcl/