The defence department has signed a million-dollar contract with controversial data-mining company Palantir Technologies, The Logic has learned.
It’s the first time the federal government has disclosed working with the Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm. The contract comes as Ottawa is increasing its use of data and artificial intelligence (AI), emphasizing that it wants to do so ethically and transparently.
Palantir has had an office in Ottawa for six years, but the federal government has repeatedly denied using the company’s products. Civil rights and immigration activists have criticized the company over the use of its products by U.S. law enforcement and security agencies in policing and deportations that the activists describe as discriminatory.
