The Trump administration is on its way to creating every authoritarian’s dream: a centralized database containing intimate details about every resident of this country, fully searchable by artificial intelligence. This powerful tool would empower the government to conduct previously unimagined levels of surveillance and harassment against its own people.

Freedom of the Press Foundation is suing the administration for documents behind the database. We know that this isn’t just something that the Trump administration would exploit; once built, it’s unlikely any administration could resist the urge to weaponize our personal information.

This nightmare privacy scenario began one year ago, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order that expanded data sharing across the federal government. The administration touted the order, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” as a way to target fraud within a supposedly bloated government.

The order was no such thing.

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[+] 134 points 6 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (10 children)
  • [–] 37 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    Seriously. This is not new. The whole Prism thing before Palantir had all the data but not the ontology. I’m glad Europe learnt from Snowden.

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  • [–] 16 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    It's painful to read Palantir still being used in EU as well..

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  • [–] 43 points 6 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 18 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    If a private company does it, they can "sell" the data to the government and all the government needs to see it is pay.

    If the government has the data, then there is laws and regulations about how they use it.

    Like most things trump does, the problem already existed, most people were just ignorant until someone as stupid as trump tried to trick them.

    That's why we keep seeing people acting shocked that trump is doing what's been done for decades. The problem is they tend to act like trump and refuse to accept that they realized late. But at least they're finally starting to notice

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  • [–] 35 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    Folks: you gotta stop saying Trump Trump Trump. He doesn't personally give a shit about any database. The capitalist oligarchy that put him in office does. He's not a great man but the money behind him is massive. Don't be fooled.

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    [–] 30 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    It's already happening. They just want to legalize it for other use.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago* (2 children)

    There is no single database for all of this information (but thanks to Palantir there will be for all of this and more), so that is definitely new.

    The tip of the authoritarian easy button iceberg:

    •The Central Intelligence Agency has been granted increased access to domestic law enforcement databases, further blurring the line between foreign intelligence and domestic policing.

    •The so-called Department of Government Efficiency got direct access to Treasury Department payment systems, including Social Security numbers, names, and birthdays, according to a whistleblower.

    •Immigration and Customs Enforcement got access to Medicaid recipients’ data and banking information.

    •The Transportation Security Administration is now sharing biometric passenger info with immigration enforcement, turning every airport check-in into a potential trap.

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  • [–] 23 points 6 months ago

    They already have. Thats what DOGE was for. The massive data centers are critical infrastructure for the AI surveillance state.

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  • [–] 18 points 6 months ago

    And the President is a pig-faced child-raping traitor.

    Put that in the database, too.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago* (5 children)

    i remember in 2016 when the republican database of citizens leaked. it had like 25 variables per person. i downloaded it (i think i might still have it) and it was about as right as the algorithm that thinks i'm a radiological oncologist.

    all it had correct about me was my address.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    10 years later their tools are unfathomably better.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    the algorithm still thinks i'm a radiological oncologist.

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  • [–] 14 points 6 months ago

    If I’ve been doing anything right I’m already in several.

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  • [–] 14 points 6 months ago

    Lmao fun fact everyone, you are already in many massive secret government databases and have been for years, long predating Trump

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  • [+] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)
    [–] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Tinfoil hat, perpetually mad at the government types still silent for some reason.

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    [–] 7 points 6 months ago

    Dumbass. Elon and doge beat him to it. People should be furious.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Excuse me while I begin preparing to hold my breath on the belief that the next Democratic administration will not only not abuse this system, but will actually abolish it.

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago*

    Ultimately this sounds fucking stonks for the so-called private prison industry.

    System of a Down - The Prison Song

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago

    Doubtless that would be bad if Trump could read.

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  • And people wonder why I have such a hair up my ass about all the data and information large tech collects on us. Organize and arm up.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Well, not so secret

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago* (3 children)
    1. or did you want a different one?
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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Okay, make sure that you put a note next to my name that I really don't give a fuck.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    Most people want to put him through a wall.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    It's not really a secret.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Is “massive” the Trump administration’s word of the day today or what?

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    [–] 3 points 6 months ago

    Wasn't this what Oracle was literally made for?

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago

    No one probably told him about the ones that already exist. That or he's jealous someone else already made it.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago

    I think it's just for tweens.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago
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