PALANTIR being given access by the UK Government without your consent
The short version: A UK-focused video flags Palantir's expanding government data access without public consent — a warning sign for how surveillance infrastructure spreads quietly on both sides of the Atlantic.
Our Take
Credit to the Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency channel for digging into how Palantir — the data-analytics firm with deep ties to intelligence agencies and policing — keeps getting folded into government systems without anyone asking the public first. This is the pattern we track every day here in the States: a surveillance contractor gets a foot in the door through some bureaucratic contract, and suddenly it's processing sensitive data on millions of people who never consented to anything.
The UK details in this video may be specific to Whitehall, but the underlying mechanics are identical to what we see with Flock Safety's ALPR network spreading across American towns. Local governments sign off on these systems in budget meetings nobody attends, vendors quietly stitch together data-sharing agreements across jurisdictions, and before long you've got a de facto national tracking infrastructure that was never debated, let alone voted on. Palantir and Flock operate in different lanes — one crunches data, the other captures plates — but both rely on the same trick: move fast, stay technical, and bank on public inattention.
If you want to see how much of this infrastructure has already landed in your own backyard, check our camera map to find ALPRs near you, and head to take action if you're ready to push back on surveillance creep before it becomes permanent.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.