Campaign groups rail against Palantir, but the UK contracts keep coming
I’ve never quite grasped why this hated of Palantir. I think it’s the necessity for some of finding a bugbear, an omnicause that all can be blamed upon. Depending upon time and place that can be the capitalists, The Joos, Palantir etc. Can’t really think of any other reason here…..
It’s probably because of Peter Thiel. He’s definitely the Devil Incarnate for some of these people. Also contracts with Plod & the military puts them beyond the pale.
The irony is that were those who hate Palantir in power, they’d be using exactly the same technology to control everyone to do what they want instead.
J RR Tolkein fans?
A lot of protest stuff is fashion, social phenomenon. There might be some vague surface level badness that starts it but then other people join because that’s where the social network is.
Like I always say that churchgoing in the UK is mostly women in rural areas going where the other women are in order to hang out and sing some songs. If those women moved to Israel, they’d switch to Judaism because the synagogue is where the other women are. They aren’t there seriously thinking about theology. If you’re a bloke and you move from Wigan to London, you might switch from rugby league to football, because that’s what your neighbour or your new workmates go to. You might prefer rugby league, but you get some mates out of it. You can’t talk to people in the office about what Martin Offiah did at the weekend (yes, I am hopelessly out of date).
And if you’re in some university or a leftie workplace, you go along with the group. You might think the objections to Starbucks are ridiculous, but you’ll go to Costa to avoid conflict, to get invited to parties. You’ll go to a Free Palestine march because that’s where Emily and Jocasta are going. You might think Sudan is more important, but do you want to be Billy No Mates outside the Sudanese embassy alone?
When I explain to Greens that a lot of trains are worse for the environment than cars, it falls on deaf ears. People don’t want to know. That’s complicated and all they want is to project a signal.
I went on a couple of demos when a student. I never pulled, soon realised it was a waste of time, and quit. Music was far more productive.
Gamecock went to a Jane Fonda rally ~1970. I came away thinking, “God, this woman is stupid.”
You’re entirely correct. I got involved with left-wing political groups in the late 60s & into the 70s. For the totty. At one time I was a member of, I believe it was called Process. It was based in the basement of a house in Mayfair & had like a coffee bar was open all night & good music. Not having the dosh for Annabel’s … Most of the people I met there were the same as I was . I couldn’t even tell you what its politics were. They certainly weren’t a topic of conversation. In the same period I was also going to Society things like the balls at the Chelsea Barracks. Again for the totty. I’m not even sure it wasn’t the same totty. You just went things you could get yourself into. I didn’t hunt foxes. Not those sort of foxes. anyway.
This I remember from the same period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Drugstore I wasn’t much of a Sloane, either.
And BTW Palantir are mostly like any other consultancy, other than with some AI knobs on. Total non-event, probably wildly overvalued in the stock market.
Notwithstanding its former use of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying company, Global Counsel, Palantir has become an influential voice in Whitehall.
Notwithstanding.
For me it’s not so much Palantir, but the processes – like the saying about drug dealers, the first hit is free (well, IIRC £1, and it’s understandable that some processes were made flexible during Covid) to get you hooked, then a massive follow on contract for which they had an “already doing it” advantage and I am not convinced all correct processes were followed (Covid no longer being an excuse.)
Then it’s another round of “centralise highly sensitive patent data without giving them much (if any) of a say”. Yes, we keep getting reassured that it’ll all be “completely safe and secure” – when every day there’s news of yet another data breach. And of course, there will never ever be any scope creep …
And finally, unless it’s a different Palantir, then all the same problems with any assurances given on confidentiality being subject to “just don’t look too hard at the incompatible US laws we have to comply with which mean we can’t guarantee it”. I was waring of this at least a decade ago, and getting rebuffed with “it’s all OK, MS have assured us that it’s all held in European data centres” – which predictably turned out to be no protection at all.
And they don’t exactly have a positive track record when it comes to resisting government requests/supporting civil liberties.
Oh yes, tin foil hat time. Ask Jews how all that data collection in 1930s Germany went for them. Indeed, it is not what the information will be used for today that’s a concern, it’s what will a government of tomorrow use it for. I don’t have much to worry about being “pale, male, stale”, but I do care about how certain groups (Reform seems to be doing well in the polls) might treat others in the future. History shows us that it’s best to assume that sooner or later a future government will abuse anything we give a (reasonably) trustworthy current government. It’s the same reason I’m against (absolutely not mandatory but will be required to exist) “ID cards” or whatever euphemism they use this time round.
Because they’re worth it?
There is a bit of Cambridge Analytica whiff to the company isn’t there. But as I’m a paid up member of “buy more popcorn while civilisation diamantles itself”, I’m just happy my tulips are currently so expensive.
Just one of the oddities about the contract between MoD and Palantir was that there was a 3 year contract granted in 2022 for a project that was going to last until at least 2030!
So Palantir were practically guaranteed a 5 year continuation right from the outset. Pricing was set accordingly.
I imagine the 2025 contract will extend the project to about 2040 with additional stops for renegotiation and financial haggling