Was talking with some friends the other day about my concerns with the increasing number of surveillance cameras (and other devices) that seem to be springing up all over my city.

See here:

What are these cameras up to?

Anyways, I mentioned the company Palantir, which nobody had heard of. When I explained what they were about, there was much doubt that they would be up to anything that malevolent in Australia….

The company specialises in creating detailed profiles of people by combining large databases about us. They then provide surveillance capability to their customers, including the Israeli Defence Forces and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Amnesty International has reported that, with these programmes, Palantir is facilitating human rights abuse.
[…]
Companies and government departments, including Coles, RioTinto, Westpac, the Victorian Department of Justice and Department of Defence have chosen to work with Palantir. This is a worrying trend. At present, there is no public reassurance that Palantir’s privacy-invading systems are not being used here in Australia.
[…]
Palantir collects data in Australia but is unrestricted in where it stores the data and who it allows to access it. As a U.S. based company, Palantir is subject to American laws that allow access to foreign data.
— Digital Rights Watch.

Sounding like some sort of a conspiracy goon when talking about this stuff is inevitable, I suppose. As an antidote, you can check out this video, which goes into some detail about the incestuous (and concerningly, somewhat messianic) activities of a whole bunch of surveillance and military-industrial complex adjacent organisations making a shit ton of dough at the expense of our personal freedoms.

Meanwhile in Australia:

As well as Palantir having commercial contracts with clients like Coles, Rio Tinto, and Westpac, the Department of Defence has spent well over $26 million using their services. AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) represents Palantir’s second-largest Australian government customer after Defence.

Then, there is the Department of Home Affairs (responsible for border protection, immigration, and domestic security), as well as NSW Police and probably others, who also have (huge) Palantir contracts, raising significant concerns around our civil liberties.

–ooOoo–

Receipts:

In the interest of not painting myself into the conspiratorial corner, her are the sources and references for all this alarm…concern.

1. Crikey — Defence signs biggest ever contract with Palantir for department’s ‘Cyber Warfare Division’ (17 Feb 2026): https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/17/australian-defence-department-palantir-biggest-ever-contract/
2. Crikey — Palantir embedding staff in Defence and mining Australian data under contract with Trump-aligned company (9 Mar 2026): https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/09/palantir-defence-contract-australia-embedding-staff-data-mining/
3. InnovationAus — Palantir handed $7.6m contract to map Australia’s Defence industry (18 Feb 2026): https://www.innovationaus.com/palantir-handed-7-6m-contract-to-map-australias-defence-industry/
4. Defence Connect — Palantir secures $7.6m Defence contract to supply ICT system platform (17 Feb 2026): https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/industry/17697-palantir-secures-7-6-million-defence-contract-to-supply-ict-system-platform
5. Democracy Sausage (Substack) — Australia and Palantir: what we’re allowed to know (16 Jun 2026): https://iwantmydemocracysausage.substack.com/p/australia-and-palantir-what-were
6. Digital Rights Watch — Palantir in Australia (1 Feb 2026): https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2026/02/01/palantir-in-australia/
7. Canberra Times — Defence skips competitive tender process to award Palantir multimillion-dollar contract: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9178631/defence-awards-palantir-76m-defence-contract/
8. The Guardian — Calls grow to ban Palantir in Australia after manifesto described by UK MP as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’ (30 Apr 2026): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/30/palantir-manifesto-australia-government-contracts
9. Democracy Sausage Substack — “Australia and Palantir: what we’re allowed to know” (16 Jun 2026): https://iwantmydemocracysausage.substack.com/p/australia-and-palantir-what-were
10. Digital Rights Watch — “Palantir in Australia” (1 Feb 2026): https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2026/02/01/palantir-in-australia/
11. Crikey — “Defence signs biggest ever contract with Palantir for department’s ‘Cyber Warfare Division’” (17 Feb 2026): https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/17/australian-defence-department-palantir-biggest-ever-contract/
12. Abigail Boyd MLC — Social media posts confirming NSW Police/Crime Commission usage (Sep 28, 2024): https://www.facebook.com/abigailboydmlc/posts/nsw-police-and-the-crime-commission-have-confirmed-they-have-been-secretly-using/1535310325074671
13. Victorian Parliament Hansard — Discussion of Corrections Victoria Palantir contracts (12 May 2026): https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/parliamentary-activity/hansard/hansard-details/HANSARD-2145855009-35534
14. Canberra Times — “Defence skips competitive tender process to award Palantir multimillion-dollar contract”: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9178631/defence-awards-palantir-76m-defence-contract/