As Palantir’s Role in Government Grows, So Does the Need for Real Human Rights Due Diligence

Palantir 2- QT
June 3, 2025

As the Trump administration expands government contracts with the data analytics firm Palantir, a critical question emerges: How can the public ensure that powerful data integration tools aren’t used to violate fundamental human rights?

Last week, The New York Times reported on Palantir’s role in supporting the Trump administration’s efforts to integrate data across federal agencies, aligning with the President’s executive order to eliminate “bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency.” Palantir’s involvement is unsurprising given its long-standing relationship with the US government, which dates back at least to 2014, and the company’s expanding footprint through contracts with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and other agencies. This years-long relationship has given Palantir privileged access to large-scale, sensitive data environments, shaping the design of its advanced software platforms and further solidifying its role as a key government partner.

While enabling data integration and analysis across agencies is not inherently problematic, Palantir has a clear responsibility to conduct robust due diligence to ensure its tools are not used to facilitate violations of fundamental human rights. That responsibility is particularly urgent in light of credible analysis that the Trump administration has recently disregarded privacy safeguards and due process protections.

In seeking to distance itself from the downstream consequences of its technology, Palantir has pointed to a 2020 blog post, which states:

“We act as a data processor, not a data controller… Our software and services are used under direction from the organisations that license our products: these organisations define what can and cannot be done with their data; they control the Palantir accounts in which analysis is conducted.”

But this attempt to disavow responsibility for end uses stands in direct contradiction to Palantir’s own Human Rights Policy, which affirms the company’s commitment to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related treaties, as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The UNGPs require companies to undertake human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for their impact on human rights across their supply chains. This process includes proactively assessing actual or potential harms, taking steps to address them, monitoring outcomes, and being transparent about how risks are managed.

Accordingly, if Palantir is to live up to its corporate commitments, there are four concrete actions the company must take:

Unless Palantir commits to meaningful human rights due diligence, the public will have every reason to remain skeptical of its claims to corporate responsibility. Shareholders should insist that the company fulfill its human rights commitments, and lawmakers must likewise ensure that public contracts with Palantir are conditioned on safeguards that prevent abuse, protect civil liberties, and respect international norms. In high-risk contexts like government surveillance and data integration, trust must be earned through concrete action — not assumed through rhetoric.

Related

See all