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Palantir and Why You Should Know About It

Don't know who Peter Thiel or Alex Karp are? Don't know what Palantir is? Don't understand why they're slurping up US government defense department contracts? keep reading ↴

What is Palantir?

Palantir is an American software & technology company. Their primary source of income comes from contracts with the US government, most commonly with the Defense Department. Palantir is Silicon Valley-based and produces a variety of analytical software programs that interpret data into results and/or an interfaceable dashboard. Some of Palantir's unique traits are its software's ability to integrate with pre-existing systems and to analyze data in a user-friendly manner. Palantir uses AI to support its data analysis and management.

What does Palantir really sell and to whom?

Palantir has received over $1.3B from the Defense Department since 2009 for a number of services, including Vantage Data Analytics Platform, Maven (an AI-powered drone platform) and Titan (an "AI-defined vehicle").

Palantir has also worked with:

The CDC on Tiberius, a software that helps distribute vaccines, and other platforms that track outbreaks of food borne outbreaks, Ebola, anthrax, bacterial special pathogens.

ICE on ImmigrationOS, which leverages preexisting government data to "detect patterns, and flag individuals who meet certain criteria." Additionally, systems like FALCON and ICM have been used in large-scale workplace raids.

The New Orleans Police, on a predictive policing technology.

The Israeli Military on "support of war-related missions" in "addressing the current situation in Israel."

The Ukrainian Military, notably leveraging Starlink's broad and robust data transferring technology to provide real-time actionable intelligence from raw drone & satellite images. Palantir's CEO speaks about this as a digital kill chain.

The UK Government to integrate and manage sensitive NHS data, running the Federated Data Platform. Here's the No Palantir in NHS Toolkit.

Who is behind Palantir?

There are three key individuals behind Palantir

Peter Thiel (chairman) - the devil, funder of JD Vance's political career, destroyer of Gawker, former PayPal co-founder, and early investor in Facebook.

Alex Karp (CEO) - billionaire that looks like an evil doll of Taika Waititi. He backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 US elections. Hype over "Daddy Karp" on r/PTLR makes Palantir popular with memebrokers and daytrading communities

Stephen Cohen (president) - youngest of the trio at the ripe age of 43, Cohen is the the computer scientist behind early protypes, and continues his involvement in a managerial position.

Is this all somehow related to Trump?

Yes. Here are two individuals who are currently or formerly employed by both Palantir and the Trump Administration (or a MAGA politician).

Greg Barbaccia

Currently: United States Federal Chief Information Officer, Trump Administration, as of January 2025

Formerly: Lead the Intelligence and Investigations unit at Palantir. Spent 10 years at Palantir, starting in 2010 and shortly after he left the Army in 2008.

2. Macalagh Carr

Currently: Head of Global Policy at Palantir.

Formerly: Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (who is too much to get into here) for the short period of time that Kevin McCarthy was the 55th Speaker under Joe Biden (January 2023-October 2023)

Why is it significant?

In 2024, Palantir reported yearly U.S. commercial revenue of $214 million (64% increase from last year), while their U.S. government revenues rose to $343 million (45% increase). Palantir is making a lot of money selling a lot of technology that leverages and encourages the collection of data by the government and third parties. Many of the products Palantir sells intend on leveraging that data by making predictions about behavior, in order to make governments better at tracking their constituents, militaries better at waging war, and corporations better at getting into customers heads.

peter-thiel-is-the-devil

Peter Thiel has been cultivating JD Vance's political career for over a decade.

JD Vance met Peter Thiel in 2011 as a Yale law student when Thiel gave a speech on campus that made Vance choose to move away from law and towards venture capital. Vance then worked with Thiel at his Silicon Valley firm. [1]

In 2022, Thiel helped bankroll JD Vance's win in the Ohio Senate to the tune of $15 million dollars in Super PAC support. [2]

Furthermore, many old friends of Thiel's have made significant donations to JD Vance and Donald Trump's campaigns, such as David Sacks who worked closely with Thiel on PayPal. "Sacks previously chipped in $1 million of his personal fortune to a pro-Vance super PAC" [3].

Sources under cut

#us politics

hangsawoman

it’s so evil when you have a beverage and you drink it and then there’s no beverage anymore

The concept of tumblr communities makes sense but I keep coming across posts I want to reblog but can't because I'm not in the community

#tylenol pm #what am i missing here

welcomedhappiness

Farewell online privacy

What happened?

Trump happened.

just get a VPN?

You can’t just tell people to ‘get a VPN (Virtual Private Network)’. Buying a VPN is like buying a house. It’s very very important. Having no VPN or having a ‘wrong’ one can seriously damage your life. Especially for Americans because their privacy laws are garbage. I am going to try explain why you should get a VPN but bare with me, I am from Germany and my English is far from perfect.

Let’s start with a simple test. Click this link here: https://whatismyipaddress.com/ It will tell your IP adres, your ISP (internet service provider), and your location. The location might not be very accurate, but then again, it’s just a simple website. Imagine what the government can do!

So basically, everyone can find out where you live. But there is more danger. Your ISP. Your ISP logs your every move online and they are required to keep it in case the government wants access to it (or if a 3rd party wants to buy your data (yikes). They have everything. What websites you visit. How long you stay on a website. What you download. Your search terms. European laws are more subtle on this but if you are from the US you are #@*#&, especially because Trump doesn’t support the open internet. It’s scary but maybe in the future you can’t get a job because the recruiter knows your searched on ‘how to deal with depression’ or anythings else that’s supposed to be private because it’s your f*cking right. Or you get a $100k fine because you pirated a movie 15 years ago. You need a VPN. You’re dumb for not using one. but what does a VPN do?

A VPN encrypts all your data so if it were be intercepted no one can ‘crack the code’ and damage your privacy.

Usually being online goes like this (simplified): Your computer —-> ISP (—–> keeps data —–> sells it)

But with a VPN it goes like: Your computer —–> VPN (encrypts data)—–> ISP (ISP can’t see shit)

Furthermore, a VPN hides your IP address and location by giving you another IP address located in Spain for example (you can often choose from a list and change as many times as you want).

Now that you know why you should get a VPN and what is does it is important to educate yourself because people often choose the wrong VPN. VPN providers are also businesses and have to obey the law. If you choose a VPN provider located in the US then you are throwing your money away because the laws in the US shits on your privacy. If the US gov wants the provider to give all their logs they have to obey. The ISP still can’t see what you are doing online and sell your data but the US gov can interfere with your VPN provider so NEVER CHOOSE A PROVIDER LOCATED IN THE US.

I just wanted to make that very clear so my followers don’t buy false security.

There is still more danger! Who says your VPN provider isn’t selling your data? You need to check their logging policy. Do they keep logs? If yes, what for? For how long do they keep them? Tip: Choose a provider who doesn’t keep logs

More about law The US is part of the Five Eyes program (the worst):

The Five Eyes, often abbreviated as FVEY, is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence (source)

There is also a Nine Eyes (bit better) and Fourteen Eyes Program (better). You don’t want a VPN provider who is located in one the Five Eyes countries. If you had to choose go for a provider located in a country that’s part of the Fourteen Eyes Program or even better, go for a country that isn’t part of any program!

I know this is a shitty explanation and please pardon my english but now it’s time to do your own research. Take your privacy seriously. Maybe WWIII breaks out and you get killed for liking the ‘wrong’ FB-page.

Go to this website: https://thatoneprivacysite.net/simple-vpn-comparison-chart/

Make sure that your future VPN provider both has green boxes for Privacy Jurisdiction and Privacy Logging.

I recommend ovpn.se and trust.zone. ovpn is located in Sweden so they are part of the 14 Eyes Program and they keep minimal logs. Their business ethics, however, are alright.

Trustzone is located in the Seychelles. No country can interfere and their privacy jurisdiction is the best you can get. The US want your data but needs to get it from Trustzone? The Seychelles will simply give them the finger and wave them goodbye. However, this makes this provider very appealing for people who torrent and criminals because they keep no logs (and that is how it shoud be) Also, there are almost no marketing efforts so this provider is one the cheapest)

Also, often providers such as ExpressVPN are being called ‘The Best’ on websites about VPNs but know that this is just marketing which also makes those provider more expensive (and they too shit on your privacy)

This must be the worst article you have ever read but please, please take your privacy very seriously.

EDIT: I got many people asking me which provider I use. For those who want to know, I use Trust Zone. They offer a free 3-day trial with no strings attached. But still do your own research!

writing-prompt-s

I am also with Trustzone but I think you forgot to explain one of it’s most important features. It protects you when you are using someone else’s Wi-Fi. If you are at Starbucks and you use their Wi-Fi your privacy is at risk. Anyone with ill intentions could steal your information. Especially if you are using an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot. With a VPN your data gets encrypted so no one can steal it.

rabbittiddy

Wait, what’s going, on? Did trump destroy internet privacy with a bill or something? Where’s the news? Oh wait, why am I getting visions of Alex Jones and selling water purifiers?

thecrystalfems

He hasn’t yet but he says he wants to. And if he is serious about it it would be really easy to do. Since all our data is already recorded, as the person above explained.

coltrer

Trump wants more surveillance of Muslim Americans. This in a country where internet privacy is already close to non-existent.

Trust.Zone has a free trial. Use it.

btw this post only has 11k notes? That’s quite disappointing for something this important.

Don’t reblog this post to save a life. Reblog this to protect an entire family!

imthedoctor12

@earth-ruins @writing-prompt-s Should I get trustzone for my mobile device?

writing-prompt-s

If you use public Wi-Fi, then yes. Which VPN you use is up to you, amigo. Take @earth-ruins advice. Do your own research first.

writing-prompt-s

@elvesfromthedeep just brought the current situation in the US to my attention (March 30, 2017).

Sources

Anger as US internet privacy law scrapped

Congress just voted to let internet providers sell your browsing history

To all my friends in the US, please read this entire post. Making everyone aware of VPNs is going to be my mission. Your privacy matters. Please reblog this post.

greeneyespurpleheart

Don’t tell me you just wanted to scroll past this. Stop looking at pictures of cats for a moment, okay? Don’t you realize how important this is? This is dangerous! ‘America, the best FREE country in the world’ my ass.

With this new law your ISP can sell your Internet history which could include passwords, usernames, religion, credit card numbers, race and much more to the highest bidder. So here is what I want you to do. You are going to read the whole thing and before you think ’this is so important. Let me reblog this real quick and go back to admiring cats again-’ NO! Don’t reblog this. Take action first. Then reblog. Sign up for a free trial! Trust.Zone offers one (here). Yes. It might be difficult to set up a VPN for some people. But is that going to stop you from protecting yourself and your family? 30 minutes. 30 minutes is all that it takes. 5 if you know how to install software. The problem with some of you is that you see ‘difficult’ as something negative. I want you to see difficult differently. I need you to push through this stuff. You are going to protect yourself. There is nothing negative about that. VPNs are fun and costsaving too! A VPN bypasses geographical restrictions so you can access websites you normally can’t or you could start Netflix’s one month free trial over and over again- forever. And it’s legal! (unless you use it to buy weapons etc.,) Don’t tell yourself that you are too tired and that you will do this tomorrow. Because that isn’t going to happen and you know it. You have to do this right now. You only have to click on it. Don’t let this/shit/life just happen to you. Take yourself seriously. Get a VPN.

Privacy is not a privilege, it’s a fundamental human right

warmhappycat

Hey is thatoneprivacysite still good? The link works and it does take me to an article about vpns, but it just looks like an ad for expressvpn with extra steps.

skeleskeeller

No they switched to https://thatoneprivacysite.xyz/#simple-vpn-comparison a couple years ago

Welcome to the VPN Comparison! This section is meant to be a resource to those who value their privacy, specifical...

skeleskeeller

I had Trust.Zone when this post first started making the rounds on Tumblr and I forgot about it after Biden took office. I recently sent them an email asking why my subscription wasn’t automatically renewed and why their website hasn’t changed since 2017(?). Their answer:

Shady people, good people, this company only cares about privacy and doesn’t care who it serves. But now with Trump and Musk this is the only VPN I’ll use.

firerockt

I understand some people might not want to use this VPN on moral grounds, but it’s genuinely one of the very few VPNs set up in a way that no authority can touch you. ExpressVPN and other ‘popular’ options operate in jurisdictions favorable for profits but their privacy is just a band-aid our government can easily rip off if it demands information. I’m a trans man, I’m afraid of our government, and at this point, I simply don’t care anymore.

moonxchaos

For a second I was like noooooo, not this long post again! Haven’t seen it in years and I always thought it was a bit extreme and exaggerated. Now that we are in 2025, I am like, nahh, these people knew what they were talking about all along. First time I am reblogging this.

moonxchaos

Also I don’t think anyone has said this yet but the free trial only requires an email address. No credit card details or anything. Refreshing.

foxbridgeni

Could someone please put the link to the free trial here? I don’t want to scroll back up 10 miles. Thank you.

skeleskeeller

here you go @foxbridgeni

Trust.Zone Free Trial

moonfireroulette

The argument against VPNs has always been, “but I have nothing to hide.” Now that an unpredictable lunatic is in charge, purging based on whatever whim strikes him, that sentiment is quickly fading. VPNs aren’t just about hiding personal secrets; they’re about protecting freedom, autonomy, and your basic right to live without unjust scrutiny or arbitrary persecution.

bearcubsandicecreammachines

Reblogging again bc this is important

#tylenol pm

Getting into a game right when it comes out sucks because you're telling me there's NO MORE GAME??? until when???? More game???

#dispatch #tylenol am

sisyphusshrugged

having a hard time focusing today. i've also had a hard time focusing for the previous 15 or so years leading up to now but this post is about today.

#tylenol am #things I attributed to my own failings #turns out its adhd #adult adhd #adhd

edelweiss123

"man, I wish there was more bisexual representation in media... 😔"

*monkey's paw curls one finger*

animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Wake up gotta trade labor for currency for means to survive

#tylenol am

technofeudalism

i think the near-extinction of people making fun, deep and/or unique interactive text-based browser games, projects and stories is catastrophic to the internet. i'm talking pre-itch.io era, nothing against it.

there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.

anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.

A Better World - create an alternate history timeline

Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game

Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet

Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games

Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones

Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy

ZenGM - simulate sports

Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi

IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)

Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface

The Cafe & Diner - mystery game

The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game

Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions

Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game

Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game

Miniconomy - player driven economy game

Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes

BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators

Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil

Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.

if you're ever thinking about making a niche project that only a select number of individuals will be nerdy enough to enjoy, keep in mind i've been playing some of these games off and on for 20~ years (Alter Ego, for example). quite literally a lifetime of replayability.