OH BOY WHAT ELSE? This is just unreal. PALANTIR, one software company dedicated to breaching individual privacy in favor of government interference, sponsors a “PRIVACY CONFERENCE?”
“COSAS VEREDES, SANCHO,” Don Quijote said.. SMH > On Sep 21, 2018, at 7:58 AM, Félix Tréguer <f...@laquadrature.net> wrote: > > Thanks for this initiative, which I gladly join. > > Microsoft and Google are also among the sponsors of this conference. And many > of the concerns expressed about Palantir similarly applies to them. > > I think their ties to this conference, and more generally to the academic > field, is also problematic. I just wish the statement had also acknowledged > that. > > Thanks again, > > Félix > > > > On 9/21/18 11:36 AM, Niels ten Oever wrote: >> Dear all, >> The Amsterdam Privacy Conference is about to kick off with Palantir as >> the Platinum Sponsor. We, as a group of researchers and advocates are >> dismayed by this. If you are too, consider signing up to the statement >> below, by sending an email with your name and affiliation (or just your >> organization if you want to sign up with your organization) to >> sig...@fundingmatters.tech. You can also find the statement at >> https://fundingmatters.tech/ >> Best, >> Niels >> >> As privacy scholars and advocates concerned with human rights, we write >> to express our dismay with the decision to have Palantir as a platinum >> sponsor for the Amsterdam Privacy Conference (APC). >> Privacy is one of the central challenges of our time and a pressing >> topic in today’s discussions on platforms, algorithms and policy making. >> The APC is a powerful forum for academics and advocates from around the >> world to move the field of privacy research forward. The conference is >> an important venue for privacy scholars from many different disciplines. >> The presence of Palantir as a sponsor of this conference legitimizes the >> company’s practices and gives it the opportunity to position itself as >> part of the agenda. This is deeply problematic and extremely regrettable. >> Palantir’s business model is based on a particular form of surveillance >> capitalism that targets marginalized communities and accelerates the use >> of discriminatory technologies such as predictive policing, for which >> the company has already been heavily criticized [1, 2]. Among Palantir’s >> public clients are police agencies and defense departments from all over >> the world. In the last year, Palantir has helped the Trump >> administration to find and deport asylum seekers, undocumented >> immigrants and refugees, raising serious concerns about wide-scale human >> rights violations [3]. While the company is largely secretive about its >> operations, it reportedly collaborated with Cambridge Analytica [4, 5], >> hedge funds, banks and financial service firms [6]. >> Despite criticism over Palantir’s sponsorship since the conference’s >> 2015 edition, APC’s sponsorship strategy has not changed. This stance >> has consequences: it contributes to the marginalization and exclusion of >> scholars that otherwise would have participated and enriched the >> conversation at these events. Hence, it also impacts APC’s ability to >> nurture public debate on privacy. >> Palantir has also surfaced as a sponsor at a range of other prominent >> privacy and technology policy events. Due to similar concerns, some of >> these conferences have discontinued Palantir sponsorship, an example >> that we hope to see replicated. Given the political, economic and >> societal implications of privacy today, the funding strategies of our >> conferences matter more than ever. However complicated the process may >> be, it is time to develop sponsorship criteria and guidelines that >> ensure academic independence and proper consideration of human rights. >> We therefore call for: >> 1. The discontinuation of Palantir’s sponsorship of the Amsterdam >> Privacy Conference, >> 2. Organizers and participants alike to engage in an action-oriented >> discussion on corporate funding of academic events, >> 3. The development of rigorous criteria and guidelines for corporate >> sponsorship, for example, based on Human Rights Impact Assessments. > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of > list guidelines will get you moderated: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, > change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at > zakwh...@stanford.edu. -- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at zakwh...@stanford.edu.
