WORKER'S PERSPECTIVE Scholars tell UC Berkeley to cut ties with Palantir



Berkeley Law hosted a top privacy and law conference this week. Since 2011 the conference has received sponsorship from Palantir and this year hundreds of academics decided they have had enough in light of the recent revelation that Palantir's technology was used to separate families. Over 300 of them signed a letter put out by the Latinx advocacy group Mijente, calling on the event organizers to drop Palantir sponsorship.



The organizers refused. They argued that corporate sponsors like Palantir don't have any influence on content or speakers. However, allowing Palantir to sponsor this event helps the company to polish its image, and thus undermines efforts to resist militarized surveillance against migrants and marginalized communities. It's worth pointing out that the two primary organizers of the conference are also Palantir advisors.



This academic letter follows a series of actions from TWC volunteers, Stanford students and organizers seeking to stop Palantir from building tech that makes up the backbone of the racist enforcement of immigration policy.



We stand with everyone who has suffered from ICE's brutal treatment of immigrants. We commit not to build or support technology that brutalize immigrant and marginalized. #TechWontBuildIt poster wheatpasted outside of the Hewlett Building at Stanford