Janet,
Palantir Technologies, the Big Tech organization run by billionaire anti-democracy activist and Trump donor Peter Thiel, is constructing a massive database that has compiled
hundreds of data points about you, and everyone else who lives in the United States. The administration has given Palantir
$970 million in contracts to provide all this information to ICE.
Palantir is aggregating and handing over highly sensitive information, including
health records, banking data, tax filings, and any other information any government agency could have collected about you, to lay the groundwork for a
centralized surveillance apparatus without precedent.
Palantir’s tools, ImmigrationOS and the ELITE platform, provide ICE with an integrated stream of federal, state, and commercial data in a simple GPS-like format.
On a screen, ICE agents view a live map populated with potential deportation targets. Click on a name, and actionable intelligence appears, a detailed dossier complete with address and identifying data.
Send
a message to Congress to stop ICE from using Palantir’s systems to target immigrants, and to break up the centralized aggregation of highly detailed data on every person in America.
Just as one might use GPS to search for the nearest gas station or grocery store,
ICE agents use Palantir to search for the closest person to arrest and disappear. Combining “Big Brother” databases across government and commercial sources, ICE can identify targets and get street directions to individuals’ homes, schools,
and workplaces.
Congress has the authority to block the use of surveillance tools that erode privacy and circumvent due process. In the absence of warrants, ICE rides roughshod over Fourth Amendment protections against unauthorized search and seizure. It’s
time for Congress to step up and establish constitutional guardrails to protect our private information from misuse.
Tell
Congress to stop ICE from using Palantir’s massive aggregation of highly detailed personal data to terrorize communities and target, arrest, and detain immigrants.
Thank you for standing up for protection against government intrusion into our personal lives.
- DFA AF Team
