Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans

[oldschool]

Content source

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html

In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.
Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.
The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work across the federal government in recent months. The company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Mr. Trump took office, according to public records, including additional funds from existing contracts as well as new contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. (This does not include a $795 million contract that the Department of Defense awarded the company last week, which has not been spent.)
Representatives of Palantir are also speaking to at least two other agencies — the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service — about buying its technology, according to six government officials and Palantir employees with knowledge of the discussions.

The push has put a key Palantir product called Foundry into at least four federal agencies, including D.H.S. and the Health and Human Services Department. Widely adopting Foundry, which organizes and analyzes data, paves the way for Mr. Trump to easily merge information from different agencies, the government officials said.
Creating detailed portraits of Americans based on government data is not just a pipe dream. The Trump administration has already sought access to hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims and any disability status.
Mr. Trump could potentially use such information to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics, Democratic lawmakers and critics have said. Privacy advocates, student unions and labor rights organizations have filed lawsuits to block data access, questioning whether the government could weaponize people’s personal information.
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Migrants apprehended by U.S. agents in November. President Trump could potentially use government data to police immigrants.Credit...Paul Ratje for The New York Times
Palantir’s selection as a chief vendor for the project was driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to the government officials. At least three DOGE members formerly worked at Palantir, while two others had worked at companies funded by Peter Thiel, an investor and a founder of Palantir.

Some current and former Palantir employees have been unnerved by the work. The company risks becoming the face of Mr. Trump’s political agenda, four employees said, and could be vulnerable if data on Americans is breached or hacked. Several tried to distance the company from the efforts, saying any decisions about a merged database of personal information rest with Mr. Trump and not the firm.
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Palantir has had federal contracts for years, including for defense work. In 2023, it showed a military vehicle in Las Vegas.Credit...Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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Palantir worked with the U.S. government on vaccine distribution during the pandemic.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
This month, 13 former employees signed a letter urging Palantir to stop its endeavors with Mr. Trump. Linda Xia, a signee who was a Palantir engineer until last year, said the problem was not with the company’s technology but with how the Trump administration intended to use it.
“Data that is collected for one reason should not be repurposed for other uses,” Ms. Xia said. “Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse.”
Mario Trujillo, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said the government typically collected data for good reasons, such as to accurately levy taxes. But “if people can’t trust that the data they are giving the government will be protected, that it will be used for things other than what they gave it for, it will lead to a crisis of trust,” he said.

Palantir declined to comment on its work with the Trump administration and pointed to its blog, which details how the company handles data.
“We act as a data processor, not a data controller,” it said. “Our software and services are used under direction from the organisations that license our products: these organisations define what can and cannot be done with their data; they control the Palantir accounts in which analysis is conducted.”
The White House did not comment on the use of Palantir’s technology and referred to Mr. Trump’s executive order, which said he wanted to “eliminate information silos and streamline data collection across all agencies to increase government efficiency and save hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”

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Some details of Palantir’s government contracts and DOGE’s work to compile data were previously reported by Wired and CNN.
Palantir, which was founded in 2003 by Alex Karp and Mr. Thiel and went public in 2020, specializes in finding patterns in data and presenting the information in ways that are easy to process and navigate, such as charts and maps. Its main products include Foundry, a data analytics platform, and Gotham, which helps organize and draw conclusions from data and is tailored for security and defense purposes.

In an interview last year, Mr. Karp, Palantir’s chief executive, said the company’s role was “the finding of hidden things” by sifting through data.
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Palantir’s role is “the finding of hidden things” by sifting through data, Mr. Karp has said.Credit...Mark Abramson for The New York Times
Palantir has long worked with the federal government. Its government contracts span the Defense Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the pandemic, the Biden administration signed a contract with Palantir to manage the distribution of vaccines through the C.D.C.
Mr. Trump’s election in November boosted Palantir’s stock, which has risen more than 140 percent since then. Mr. Karp, who donated to the Democratic Party last year, has welcomed Mr. Trump’s win and called Mr. Musk the most “qualified person in the world” to remake the U.S. government.
At the I.R.S., Palantir engineers joined in April to use Foundry to organize data gathered on American taxpayers, two government officials said. Their work began as a way to create a single, searchable database for the I.R.S., but has since expanded, they said. Palantir is in talks for a permanent contract with the I.R.S., they said.

A Treasury Department representative said that the I.R.S. was updating its systems to serve American taxpayers, and that Palantir was contracted to complete the work with I.R.S. engineers.
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At the Internal Revenue Service, Palantir engineers were recently brought in to use Foundry to organize data gathered on American taxpayers, two employees said. Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times
Palantir also recently began helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enforcement and removal operations team, according to two Palantir employees and two current and former D.H.S. officials. The work is part of a $30 million contract that ICE signed with Palantir in April to build a platform to track migrant movements in real time.
Some D.H.S. officials exchanged emails with DOGE officials in February about merging some Social Security information with records kept by immigration officials, according to screenshots of the messages viewed by The New York Times.
In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a D.H.S. spokeswoman, did not address Palantir’s new work with the agency and said the company “has had contracts with the federal government for 14 years.”

Palantir representatives have also held talks with the Social Security Administration and the Department of Education to use the company’s technology to organize the agencies’ data, according to two Palantir employees and officials in those agencies.
The Social Security Administration and Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.
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Palantir has talked with the Social Security Administration about using the company’s technology to organize the agency’s data.Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
The goal of uniting data on Americans has been quietly discussed by Palantir engineers, employees said, adding that they were worried about collecting so much sensitive information in one place. The company’s security practices are only as good as the people using them, they said. They characterized some DOGE employees as sloppy on security, such as not following protocols in how personal devices were used.
Ms. Xia said Palantir employees were increasingly worried about reputational damage to the company because of its work with the Trump administration. There is growing debate within the company about its federal contracts, she said.

“Current employees are discussing the implications of their work and raising questions internally,” she said, adding that some employees have left after disagreements over the company’s work with the Trump administration.
Last week, a Palantir strategist, Brianna Katherine Martin, posted on LinkedIn that she was departing the company because of its expanded work with ICE.
“For most of my time here, I found the way that Palantir grappled with the weight of our capabilities to be refreshing, transparent and conscionable,” she wrote. “This has changed for me over the past few months. For me, this is a red line I won’t redraw.”
Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz and Tara Siegel Bernard contributed reporting.

Sheera Frenkel is a reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area, covering the ways technology impacts everyday lives with a focus on social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp.

 

[oldschool]

A plum target for hackers and a security and privacy nightmare for Americans. Welcome to Orwell's 1984.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

What could possibly go wrong? Agreed oldschool it's basically 1984.. We have arrived at a tipping point where data collection is KING

 

[Zero Knowledge]

What could possibly go wrong? Agreed with oldschool it's basically 1984.. We have arrived at a tipping point where peak data collection is KING

What ever happened to privacy? It's been swallowed up tech firms and sold back to us and our governments! I want my royalties for my data being used!

 

[Victor M]

Sue the bugger.

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

Palantir always used American data for national security
Once you accept a policy of a company you give away the right to privacy but security is important too so I'm not against data collection by the us government as it's used for national security
But Palantir has sold it's services to non democracies too so that's the part I'm against

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

What could possibly go wrong? Agreed with oldschool it's basically 1984.. We have arrived at a tipping point where peak data collection is KING

What ever happened to privacy? It's been swallowed up tech firms and sold back to us and our governments! I want my royalties for my data being used!

Well you accepted to give it freely
There are companies that will give you some money for data ( surveys sites ) but majority of data collected was legally and freely acquired when people decided to accept tos and privacy policy of huge corporation
You can always say no and use open source software, self host servers and yes it's expansive but the free Gmail , facebook etc
Cost a lot too and selling data covers more then the huge server cost and huge salaries

 

[Victor M]

not against data collection by the us government as it's used for national security

How exactly is it useful for "national security". Do we go back to 1960's and accuse movie stars of being communists? Or maybe picking out the people who do no align with the official ruling party's point of view? How is this different from the Soviet's use of their secret police? What is he going to do with those identified as 'bad' for 'national security' ? A lot of bad things can be done under the excuse of 'national security'.

 

[oldschool]

Once you accept a policy of a company you give away the right to privacy

No U.S. citizens authorized this collection of data from walled-off departments and agencies, gathered into one database and given to Palantir. For what purpose? Not to mention that this violates a plethora of laws against this type of aggregation and transfer to any sort of database, let alone outsourcing to a private company.

How exactly is it useful for "national security". Do we go back to 1960's and accuse movie stars of being communists? Or maybe picking out the people who do no align with the official ruling party's point of view? How is this different from the Soviet's use of their secret police? What is he going to do with those identified as 'bad' for 'national security' ? A lot of bad things can be done under the excuse of 'national security'.

Precisely!

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

How exactly is it useful for "national security". Do we go back to 1960's and accuse movie stars of being communists? Or maybe picking out the people who do no align with the official ruling party's point of view? How is this different from the Soviet's use of their secret police? What is he going to do with those identified as 'bad' for 'national security' ? A lot of bad things can be done under the excuse of 'national security'.

And much more bad can happen if oppressive ideologies within the us become mainstream or in general if usa stops being the worlds empire as the alternative is oppression and I prefer that bully over any alternative I seen so far

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

No U.S. citizens authorized this collection of data from walled-off departments and agencies, gathered into one database and given to Palantir. For what purpose? Not to mention that this violates a plethora of laws against this type of aggregation and transfer to any sort of database, let alone outsourcing to a private company.

Precisely!

All data is acquired legally and used legally within the us government and any American based data came from privacy policys people legally accepted to agree to and giveaway the right to privacy

 

[Digmor Crusher]

oppressive ideologies within the us become mainstream

I think we're already there.

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

I think we're already there.

They aren't exactly mainstream yet but yes non free ideologies are growing in the us

 

[Sorrento]

There was an article on BBC News a few days ago regarding a NK phone smuggled out, & one thing the NK regime does is take a snapshot of your phone every minute or so, that was rightly seen as oppressive but it did remind me of Recall a little?

 

[cruelsister]

U.S. citizens authorized this collection of data from walled-off departments and agencies, gathered into one database and given to Palantir. For what purpose?

Palantir does not collect, store, or any way manipulate data. Palantir sells AI software to whatever Government or Organization that already has this data. the software has various modules that can be added to specifically meet the needs of the client for them to analyze this data. This then yields a more efficient (and cost effective) way of doing what is already being done.

Fun Fact- Palantir has ZERO sales people. They instead hold "Boot Camps" where the data analysts of whatever organization come in for a few days in order to evaluate what the software can do.

So to sum up, Palantir:
1). does not collect, store, or sell personal data
2). acts as a data processor, not a data controller
3). the client itself will determine what can and cannot be done with their data

 

[oldschool]

Palantir does not collect, store, or any way manipulate data. Palantir sells AI software to whatever Government or Organization that already has this data.

Nonetheless, neither citizens nor Congress authorized the aggregation of data from different departments and agencies, no matter how used or by whom. This data is walled off and segregated for very good reasons, especially to prevent weaponized use against its citizens.

This is not to mention the security vulnerability created by such data aggregation into one database, etc.., creating one easily identifiable target.

 

[oldschool]

All data is acquired legally and used legally within the us government and any American based data came from privacy policys people legally accepted to agree to and giveaway the right to privacy

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Congress has not authorized the aggregation of data from different departments and agencies, no matter how used or by whom.

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

Palantir does not collect, store, or any way manipulate data. Palantir sells AI software to whatever Government or Organization that already has this data. the software has various modules that can be added to specifically meet the needs of the client for them to analyze this data. This then yields a more efficient (and cost effective) way of doing what is already being done.

Fun Fact- Palantir has ZERO sales people. They instead hold "Boot Camps" where the data analysts of whatever organization come in for a few days in order to evaluate what the software can do.

So to sum up, Palantir:
1). does not collect, store, or sell personal data
2). acts as a data processor, not a data controller
3). the client itself will determine what can and cannot be done with their data

That explains a lot thanks cruel sister

 

[cruelsister]

For giggles, some may be interested in the deal Palantir has finalized with NATO:

https://shape.nato.int/news-releases/nato-acquires-aienabled-warfighting-system-

 

[ForgottenSeer 114717]

A plum target for hackers and a security and privacy nightmare for Americans. Welcome to Orwell's 1984.

Information Silos are the reason for your 911. Plus Silos are not always for isolation of data. Everybody's personal data is already on the Dark Web, free for the taking. The US Government does not need Palantir to do this - if it wanted to amass a master database of every person within the US. Public Records - which are very easy to obtain - contain everything that any threat actor needs to know.

HHS has 21 CIOs. The networks are so inefficient that they consume 30+ % or higher of American taxpayer funds that are apportioned for the agency.

No U.S. citizens authorized this collection of data from walled-off departments and agencies, gathered into one database and given to Palantir. For what purpose? Not to mention that this violates a plethora of laws against this type of aggregation and transfer to any sort of database, let alone outsourcing to a private company.

Precisely!

If you understand legalese, the order states that it is not intended to violate any statutes. The NY Times article was full of "Trump might abuse this to do this and that." That is all tinfoil hat speculation, but unfortunately, there are those disposed to buy into anti-big-oompah-loompah propaganda.

A read of the Executive Order shows it to be not anything relate to the NY Times article claims of "Trump could do this..." and "We fear Trump will do that..."

Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose.

www.whitehouse.gov