Meta-Data
Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of “meta-data analytics” or a company that does it, Palantir. It’s a highly financed, high-tech computer company in Silicon Valley, California. But you might recognize the “money man” behind it, Peter Thiel, who made his first fortune with PayPal, and was the first outside investor in Facebook. He still holds a seat on Facebook’s board of directors and is known for pursuing his conservative/libertarian agenda. And he sure has the money to do it.
Thiel combined with financier Joe Lonsdale to develop Palantir. They found a “niche:” using meta-data analytics to aid the US Government. The military, intelligence and police agencies use Palantir to sift through mountains of data. They gather the information: searching for criminals, spies, and individuals inside and outside the United States. One big success: Palantir’s programs helped the US military track down bin Laden.
Patriots or Traitors
There is nothing inherently wrong with a company helping the United States government achieve its mission. There are lots of companies doing it: Boeing, KBR, and General Dynamics to name just a few. And while we can argue about how much they profit they take, it’s clear they serve a critical role in helping the Government do its job.
Like many of these private contractors, Palantir’s role is controversial. The company has contracted with ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Their mission is to identify and locate undocumented aliens in the United States. When ICE plans “raids” to roundup illegals, it’s Palantir that’s providing the data. And they not only find the information, they developed programs to help ICE Agents easily track illegals. Now there’s an “app” for that: ICE has it installed on their agent’s phones (WNYC Report.) It’s required.
Company founders Thiel and Lonsdale are proud of their government work. And now they have tried to “turn the tables” on the competition. Thiel claims that competitor Google is “unpatriotic” by refusing to do AI (artificial intelligence) work for the US government. Thiel goes even farther, claiming that since Google is doing AI research in China they are actually helping China against the US. In Thiel’s words, Google is “…engaged in a seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military.”
World Wide Web
It is the dilemma of a worldwide Internet economy.
Companies like Google and Facebook have worldwide impact. Facebook, with 2.38 billion users, reaches almost one third of the entire world. Google is close behind with 2 billion. The difficulty is in working across borders with different legal and ethical standards. For example , Google’s flagship product, Google Search, is not allowed in China. For Google to market in China, it has to censor search results to satisfy the Chinese government. Google suspended the “Dragonfly Project,” a search engine designed to meet those Chinese demands, but the temptation and profit motive remains.
Working across national boundaries isn’t new. General Motors, Nike, and Apple have learned to deal with differing regulations and governments. But cars, shoes and even computer parts don’t have the same intelligence impact as data. With the worldwide availability of meta-data, there is no guarantee that governments won’t use access to further their national goals. And private companies are influencing nations as well: Cambridge Analytica’s critical impact on the Brexit vote and the Presidential election in 2016 is just one company’s example.
No Rules
Protestors have targeted many US companies for cooperating with ICE. Some, like Marriott and Choice Hotels, chose to prevent ICE from using their hotels. Several airlines refuse to fly separated children.
Palantir is facing public pressure with protests outside their Palo Alto offices. In addition, Amazon employees are pressuring their management to cut ties with Palantir, demanding an end to Cloud and Web services.
The power of “data” has infiltrated our lives. Google, Facebook, Amazon and dozens of other companies we don’t know; track our likes and dislikes, from products, to food, to politics. There is no one “file” on us, but there are millions of bits of data that can all be sorted, correlated, and analyzed to reach conclusions. What we do and where we are; what we need, want, and believe are all available and up for sale. Palantir sells their information to the US Government. Facebook sold their’s to Cambridge Analytica.
Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean we should do it. As a nation, we need to determine how much we should regulate the use of our information. Today, the technology has far outdistanced the rules, norms and ethics. Nothing seems to govern this multi-national information bonanza. No one has decided what is patriotic or treasonous, right or wrong.
