What Palantir and the LAPD Know About You
To give an example how this kind of database and software can be used, based on their example:<p>- Someone &quot;Alex&quot; is convicted, a data point is created
- &quot;X&quot; has a scar on their left leg and a tattoo on their right ankle of a skull, this is registered in their data, along with any other info (height, probable weight, ethnicity, age, what they look like etc.)<p>Later, a citizen reports a crime, doesn&#x27;t really see the person but noticed the start of a tattoo on the perp&#x27;s right ankle under a sock. This info, along with vague height info, etc. could then be used to define Alex as a suspect. Powerful, data comprehension.<p>Potentially controversial part: not everyone has a data point, and since the article states it, there are probably more data points on black and brown communities. So data comprehension and links found and going to be found in this already-existing pool. A possible solution to this is creating data points for everyone, but that has its own controversies (whether it&#x27;s a government or a private entity).<p>To play Devil&#x27;s advocate, Palantir gets a lot of flack for licensing their software to governmental institutions, e.g. ICE, the US army, and for being affiliated to Peter Thiel (see the other comment). Unlike Thiel, Alex Karp (Palantir CEO) is left leaning. Palantir has worked with numerous administrations (Bush, Obama). Their view is that they don&#x27;t see or pick any sides, but the morality of that is up for everyone to decide, I believe if you don&#x27;t pick a side, one is often picked for you.