- Anya Schiffrin on Palantir:
- Paula Cipierre responds to comments:
- Palantir’s Privacy and Ethical Team:
- Schiffrin on Trump & Thiel:
- Anya Schiffrin on Palantir:
Whilst engaging within discussions relating towards the regulation of big-technology companies and the importance of public trust within the context of commerce, Anya Schiffrin evidently spoke out about Peter Thiel, and his controversial past activities.
As the director of technology, media, and communications at Columbia University, Schiffrin appeared on the panel to discuss topics with Palantir Privacy and Public Policy Leader – Paula Cipierre. Whilst engaging within conversation relating to regulation and trust of technology companies, Anya evidently disclosed her pessimistic outlook towards Peter Thiel, and Palantir.
Palantir, in which is a software company that specialises on empowerment of organisational data, was labelled as a surveillance company, and an organisation that makes society nervous within their integration of Governments and corporate clients. To add to this, Peter Thiel was consistently mentioned throughout the conversation, as Anya labelled the billionaire as untrustworthy, through his so-called “tax-avoidance” activities via his 401-K.
- Paula Cipierre responds to comments:
Whilst the demonisation of Thiel and Palantir continued throughout the debate, Privacy Leader Paula Cipierre stuck back in an attempt to dissolve the ungrounded comments made by Anya. Paula promptly pointed towards Palantir’s evident advantages within the context of organisations, stating how Palantir does not store, collect, or own any data. Instead, the company provides software for organisational digital infrastructure, and acts as a connective tissue to drive ethical operational execution.
Moreover, whilst previous comments made by Schiffrin stated that Palantir would contribute towards loss of labour due to the power of Palantir AI technologies, Cippierre stuck back, indicating the ideological view of Palantir leadership in which is of symbiosis of human and machine being the best methodological approach for future software. Similarly, it was vital to note that in consideration of the fact that ethics is an overwhelmingly controversial topic for Palantir & society, Cippierre noted the importance of Palantir building data privacy and regulatory standards into the product as a method of mitigation.
- Palantir’s Privacy and Ethical Team:
To add to this Palantir, according to Cipierre, has developed a Privacy and Ethical team in order to maintain a holistic debate in regards to ethics and data. The Privacy and Ethical team consists of a range of inter-disciplinary and holistic topics, aiming to assist Palantir within their preservation of civil liberties and empowerment of data simultaneously. An emphasis of the Privacy and Ethical team is centred on embracing regulation to act as a framework for mitigation procedures within the context of the data scene.
- Schiffrin on Trump & Thiel:
Disregarding the comments made by the Palantir employee, Anya consistently reiterated her ideological pessimism towards Peter Thiel, mentioning his involvement with Donald Trump, and comparing certain previous actions of the Thiel towards that of a Russian Oligarch. To finalise, the Director of technology pointed towards large companies, such as Palantir, for being “above the law”, and therefore hinting towards a necessity of more regulation.
