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A trio of troubles are impacting upon notorious software giant Palantir right now all relating to trustworthiness - and if you're right or wrong to do so. Right, so Palantir. A company that insists it’s just a neutral bit of software, while somehow popping up in conversations about covert attacks, military intelligence, and the inner workings of your healthcare system, and then acting surprised that people are starting to ask questions. One minute it’s the analytical backbone of the NHS, the next it’s being waved away by Switzerland as a data risk they don’t want anywhere near their defence systems, and in between its name is being dragged into allegations about that pager attack in Lebanon that left civilians dead and mutilated. And no, that doesn’t mean guilt, before anyone reaches for the solicitor’s letter. It means something else entirely. It means the same company keeps turning up wherever power is exercised without witnesses, whether that’s on a battlefield, in a defence ministry, or inside a public service. And when that happens often enough, it stops being coincidence and starts being a pattern worth paying attention to. Right. Let’s strip this back to first principles, because the confusion around Palantir is not accidental, it’s manufactured by treating each controversy as a separate issue. They are not separate. They are converging, and the convergence is the story. One company is now appearing in three arenas that should not overlap without triggering serious political scrutiny. A covert attack in Lebanon that used civilian communication devices as weapons. A European state deciding a US technology firm is too dangerous to trust with military intelligence. And the analytical core of Britain’s National Health Service. That company is Palantir, and the alarm bells are not ringing because of a single allegation, but because of what happens when security-state infrastructure migrates into civilian governance without consent, debate, or accountability.
By Damien WilleyA trio of troubles are impacting upon notorious software giant Palantir right now all relating to trustworthiness - and if you're right or wrong to do so. Right, so Palantir. A company that insists it’s just a neutral bit of software, while somehow popping up in conversations about covert attacks, military intelligence, and the inner workings of your healthcare system, and then acting surprised that people are starting to ask questions. One minute it’s the analytical backbone of the NHS, the next it’s being waved away by Switzerland as a data risk they don’t want anywhere near their defence systems, and in between its name is being dragged into allegations about that pager attack in Lebanon that left civilians dead and mutilated. And no, that doesn’t mean guilt, before anyone reaches for the solicitor’s letter. It means something else entirely. It means the same company keeps turning up wherever power is exercised without witnesses, whether that’s on a battlefield, in a defence ministry, or inside a public service. And when that happens often enough, it stops being coincidence and starts being a pattern worth paying attention to. Right. Let’s strip this back to first principles, because the confusion around Palantir is not accidental, it’s manufactured by treating each controversy as a separate issue. They are not separate. They are converging, and the convergence is the story. One company is now appearing in three arenas that should not overlap without triggering serious political scrutiny. A covert attack in Lebanon that used civilian communication devices as weapons. A European state deciding a US technology firm is too dangerous to trust with military intelligence. And the analytical core of Britain’s National Health Service. That company is Palantir, and the alarm bells are not ringing because of a single allegation, but because of what happens when security-state infrastructure migrates into civilian governance without consent, debate, or accountability.