Matt Nippert
The New Zealand Defence Force has spent millions on controversial spy software produced past times secretive Silicon Valley trouble solid Palantir. After refusing for to a greater extent than than a yr to reveal the extent of links to Peter Thiel’s large information analysis company, prompting a electrical load past times the Herald on Lord's Day to the Ombudsman, the NZDF were forced to discover annual spending amongst Palantir averaged $1.2 million. The figures advise since contracts were showtime signed inwards 2012 the defence forcefulness describe has spent $7.2m amongst the firm.
NZDF FINALLY DISCLOSES PALANTIR SPENDING (p. 1)
The Herald showtime requested information terminal Jan well-nigh Palantir’s role too the NZDF initially declined to respond claiming fifty-fifty confirming contact amongst Palantir could prejudice national security.
“The Defence Force neither confirms nor denies the existence or non-existence of the information yous accept requested,” it wrote.
After existence made aware the adoption of Palantir had been reported inwards a 2012 re-create of NZDF-published Army News, too that the NZDF hosted a publicly-available Dec 2015 briefing on its website detailing role of Palantir “analytical tools” past times the elite SAS, the defence forcefulness describe reconsidered its position.
The NZDF confirmed it’s contracts amongst Palantir were into the 3rd three-year cycle too embrace software licenses too preparation for 100 staff. “Palantir cognition base of operations too analysis capacity.”
The NZDF had claimed releasing the full spent amongst Palantir would breach commercial confidentiality too impairment co-operation amongst the company. Ombudsman Peter Boshier ruled these concerns were unfounded, too were inwards whatsoever illustration outweighed past times legitimate world interest.
Palantir, founded inwards 2004, grew every bit an offshoot of the fraud detection operations of Thiel’s other companionship Paypal. Initial investors - too major clients - include the news agencies of the Five Eyes news network.
In to a greater extent than recent times it has sought to expand its customer base of operations to include police describe enforcement, other authorities agencies, too fiscal firms.
The company’s secrecy - partly due to its clients inwards intelligence, partly due to its condition every bit a non-public companionship - has seen marketplace set too manufacture speculation run rampant. The companionship is said to live on worth $25b, amongst Thiel its largest private shareholder.
The companionship terminal calendar month was caught upward inwards the scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica, which harvested tens of millions of profiles from Facebook every bit business office of political influence efforts inwards back upward of Trump too Brexit.
The New York Times reported a Palantir employee inwards London worked closely amongst Cambridge Analytica to develop their psychological profiling technology, too therefore suggested the trouble solid exercise a personality quiz to scrape to a greater extent than information from those who clicked on it.
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie told the British parliament that Palantir employees also worked on Cambridge Analytica’s vast puddle of illegally-obtained Facebook data.
Questions to the NZDF well-nigh what they used Palantir information to analyse or assess the information of New Zealand citizens went unanswered.
The Herald revealed terminal yr that Thiel was granted citizenship inwards New Zealand despite the controversial billionaire having entirely spent 12 days inwards the country.
He met less than i per cent of the typical residency requirement of 1350 days.
It caused a domestic too international furore amongst the opposition Labour Party asking questions inwards Parliament well-nigh whether the affair meant New Zealand citizenship was for sale.
Criticism intensified subsequently it was revealed Thiel’s local investments had also been given a generous authorities subsidy.
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