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The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

washingtonpost.com

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Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#111

Post by microtherion »

mulmen wrote: post #2

Maybe I misunderstand Palantir's mission but working with LEOs like ICE seems to be their core business. All credit to these employees for standing up for what they believe in but what exactly did they think they were signing up for? I have a new coworker who wears his Palantir t-shirt and it makes me uncomfortable to even see the name in my office.

> what exactly did they think they were signing up for?

It appears they're having an "Are we the Baddies?" moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#112

Post by 1111236112347 »

gopalv wrote: post #103
tempsy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also don't understand this. Seems like if you were willing to work for Palantir before this made news you'd have understood that surveillance tech to police depts, corporations, etc. is exactly what the company sells/enables. I did have a recruiter reach out a long time ago and remember they did actually pitch the social good use case of helping law enforcement find and arrest criminals involved in child prostituti…

> they did actually pitch the social good use case of helping law enforcement find and arrest criminals involved in child prostitution rings. That's sort of the crux of it - ICE wasn't supposed to be bad guys. In fact, ICE could be heroes - they really could be, when they were breaking up trafficking and rescuing people out of criminal control. Instead, they are tasked with tearing children away from parents and maki…

> I suspect there are people in ICE-HSI, who probably hate being lumped in together with the ICE-ERO.

This is definitely a real issue: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/29/17517870/i...

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#113

Post by openasocket »

pacala wrote: post #87
openasocket wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could also let asylum seekers go, and allow them to live in the United States pending a hearing. That's what we've been doing until this administration. These aren't random people off the street, these are people with valid claims of asylum who have passed the credible fear interview administered by CBP. Almost all of them will stay in contact with the courts and go to all their appointments. The editorial also…

75% or more of asylum claims from central americans are ultimately denied. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/03/world/us-asylum-denial-rates-...

Doesn't matter though, they are still not breaking the law.

There are a lot of factors involved in those numbers. For starters, immigration court does not provide public defenders. If you can't afford a lawyer, and can't find a lawyer willing to work pro bono, you have to represent yourself. Yes, even if you are a minor. And having an attorney, according to your article, makes it 5x more likely for your claim to be accepted.

There's also the fact that standards for being granted asylum can be arbitrary and not subject to proper review. Immigration judges work for the DOJ, not the judicial system, and are appointed by the Attorney General. The Attorney General also has fairly broad powers to increase the burden of proof for asylum cases, and limiting the circumstances in which an asylum claim is valid. The AG can also directly override the decisions of judges and deny asylum. For example: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ag-barr-using-u...

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#114

Post by ReptileMan »

This is a big company profile for palantir with the "attackers" getting less than a paragraph. 60 people out of 2500 is not much and the article didn't mention who are they - so probably low level and easily replacable if they decide to quit or be fired.

Those types of articles under the umbrella of "some people on twitter are outraged about something" that give impression of society wide consensus when they are a tiny minority or widespread action are distorting the discourse quite a bit.

Also - they wanted Palantir to donate profits from ICE contracts, but they didn't donate their salaries.

I wouldn't go after Thiel. The guy has a habbit of winning.

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#115

Post by izzydata »

creaghpatr wrote: post #86
wpietri wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I think it's reasonable (although perhaps naive) for people to have a sunny view of law enforcement. Especially when, like me, they're white men from middle-class backgrounds; I've never had a bad experience with law enforcement, despite having done some stupendously dumb-ass things. But even though I'm predisposed to view cops favorably, the stuff with ICE is shocking to me. America has a big chunk of histo…

Or, if Mexican heroin killed multiple people you know, you have a not-sunny view of illegal immigrants and unsecured borders. Just because you attribute your own ignorance to the color of your skin, doesn't mean others do.

It is unfortunate that this has actually happened to you.

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#116

Post by sorokod »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #76
analogist wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you think there is no difference in guilt between being a war criminal’s arm dealer and being a war criminal’s grocer?

It's a very interesting gradient that you bring up. Most of us probably have no issue with the baker who sold Hitler his daily loaf of bread. But many of us do have problems with Hugo Boss for designing Nazi uniforms, even though the design work would have been before most of the Nazi war crimes had occurred. Does not resisting to the fullest of your ability constitute enabling evil? Would you take Pablo Escobar's do…

A gradient is a gradient, mapping it's multiple values to just two: blame/no blame, will be problematic. In your gun store owner example, the blame itself has a gradient.

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#117

Post by nooron »

creaghpatr wrote: post #86
wpietri wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I think it's reasonable (although perhaps naive) for people to have a sunny view of law enforcement. Especially when, like me, they're white men from middle-class backgrounds; I've never had a bad experience with law enforcement, despite having done some stupendously dumb-ass things. But even though I'm predisposed to view cops favorably, the stuff with ICE is shocking to me. America has a big chunk of histo…

Or, if Mexican heroin killed multiple people you know, you have a not-sunny view of illegal immigrants and unsecured borders. Just because you attribute your own ignorance to the color of your skin, doesn't mean others do.

Heroin has killed people I know. I still don’t think separating and caging families is moral.

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#118

Post by alistairSH »

AndrewBissell wrote: post #79
prepend wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not the Palantir that are bad, but Sauron and Saruman. They were created by elves for useful purposes. Possibly the Palantir saved middle earth when Aragorn used it to scry events leading up to the final battles.

I guess this explains the "Defend the Shire" shirts I see Palantir employees wear sometimes. Always thought the idea they're on the side of the pastoral, mind-their-own-business Hobbits was one of the most absurd misconceptions of their purpose of any company in Silicon Valley, and that's really saying something.

Oh. Wow. That is insane. Photo for reference:

https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/edit...

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#119

Post by kj98uo »

mulmen wrote: post #2

Maybe I misunderstand Palantir's mission but working with LEOs like ICE seems to be their core business. All credit to these employees for standing up for what they believe in but what exactly did they think they were signing up for? I have a new coworker who wears his Palantir t-shirt and it makes me uncomfortable to even see the name in my office.

I thought you work remotely based on your past comments??

Re: The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm ties to ICE under attack by employees

#120

Post by klyrs »

creaghpatr wrote: post #86
wpietri wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I think it's reasonable (although perhaps naive) for people to have a sunny view of law enforcement. Especially when, like me, they're white men from middle-class backgrounds; I've never had a bad experience with law enforcement, despite having done some stupendously dumb-ass things. But even though I'm predisposed to view cops favorably, the stuff with ICE is shocking to me. America has a big chunk of histo…

Or, if Mexican heroin killed multiple people you know, you have a not-sunny view of illegal immigrants and unsecured borders. Just because you attribute your own ignorance to the color of your skin, doesn't mean others do.

Just wondering, but how do concentration camps full of children cut down on the heroin trade?
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