The Trump administration has reportedly been discreetly working with Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) to gather personal data of American citizens from various federal agencies, sparking concerns over privacy and potential misuse of personal data.
What Happened: President Trump’s March executive order for federal data sharing is being implemented through Palantir’s product, Foundry. Although Trump has not publicly discussed this initiative, this platform is already in use by several federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Social Security Administration, reported The New York Times on Friday.
Foundry’s capabilities in data organization and analysis could potentially enable the merging of information from various agencies, thereby creating detailed profiles of American citizens. The Trump administration has attempted to access extensive citizen data from government databases, including bank details, student debt, medical claims, and disability status.
Palantir did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
Palantir’s selection as a primary vendor for this project was reportedly influenced by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was being overseen by Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk.
Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and privacy advocates, fear that such data could be exploited for political purposes, such as policing immigrants and targeting critics.
Some Palantir employees fear the company’s association with Trump’s agenda and potential data breaches, prompting 13 former staffers to sign a letter urging it to cut ties with the administration.
Why It Matters: The Trump administration’s collaboration with Palantir comes on the heels of several significant developments for the company. In late May, the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded Palantir a $795 million modification to a contract for its Maven Smart System software licenses, which likely contributed to a surge in the company’s stock price.
Earlier that month, Palantir announced a strategic partnership with enterprise software giant SAP SE (NYSE:SAP), integrating its data platforms with SAP’s enterprise solutions, a move that CEO Alex Karp described as “extremely valuable.”
At minimum upsetting to see SAP involved but probably expected nonetheless.
This is strikingly concerning. I did not read this specific article, but I read a more recent one written by Robert Reich from The Guardian.
It’s very bleak to read about this. When companies collect and sell personal data, we can usually predict that it’s just for profit. But when a government does it, profit isn’t really the goal. There are many things we can speculate about. Maybe it’s, as the article says, to police immigrants and target critics. Maybe it’s for something else. It definitely will not be something pretty. I wonder if anyone here has anything substantial to add in order to reduce speculation, anything concrete?
Also, I think this article should definitely belong in General > News, not Off Topic (not that this matters much, tho).