Love in the time of Palantir

**James Steinberg** (0:01)
This is Planet Money from NPR.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (0:06)
A few weeks ago, there was an ad on Instagram for an event in New York called singles dating matching using Palantir data. The ad went on to explain that if you bought a ticket, you could come, maybe find love using the same technology that tracked down Osama Bin Laden. The evening promised data analysis and pattern matching!
To be clear, Palantir is a company known for working with ICE and the Department of Defense, and it is rumored to have helped track down Bin Laden, although that has never been confirmed. Needless to say, Palantir not known for making love matches. Now, look, this event is clearly at least a little bit of a joke, but we wanted to see who would show up. Can I ask why you guys came tonight?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:51)
We both work in tech and we're critical of tech, but also wanted to see how we might be optimized for love.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (1:01)
Are you actually looking to meet anybody?

**Jeannie Chan** (1:03)
I mean, if it happens, it happens.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (1:05)
Are you nervous?

**James Steinberg** (1:06)
Mmm, like on a one to ten, maybe like a four.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (1:10)
Zazas Wong, Alejandro Ojeda Olarte, and Lina Rojas were some of the 60 or so people who had bought a $20 ticket to this event. Most had given the organizer their name and their phone number.
So the question was, what data could be polled about them with just that info? Zach Young and Latifa Alabi weren't sure.

**James Steinberg** (1:31)
I want to see what my file holds. And I was maybe teased that they found a lot about me.

**Jeannie Chan** (1:38)
I really don't have a ton to hide, or I'm scared of famous last words, I guess.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (1:44)
Palantir is a company that makes software in order to analyze data. And there is this public perception of Palantir as a monolithic, panopticon company watching all of us all the time.
And so a lot of people came to this event just trying to figure out what is the truth about Palantir, including Latifah.

**Jeannie Chan** (2:04)
If they're really going to show the data Palantir and like flock cameras have, it's also a good privacy awareness event, right? Like, you should know what everybody else knows about you.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (2:14)
Another attendee, Jeannie Chan, she was concerned about her secrets being found in all the data. But she had also found a way to maintain some privacy. What data are you worried about them knowing about you?

**Zach Young** (2:27)
Um, that's a good one.

**Jeannie Chan** (2:31)
I'm afraid to say.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (2:32)
But there's something on the internet that you're like, I hope they don't find that.

**Jeannie Chan** (2:34)
I'm sure there is, yes.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (2:37)
How much faith do you have in their accuracy?

**James Steinberg** (2:40)
I hope not great, but also my name is pretty common as well.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (2:43)
So when you search your name, you'll find like a whole bunch of different people.

**Jeannie Chan** (2:46)
A lot, yes. I actually even have a doppelganger who does my job, my role living in New York. So I hope they find that one.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (2:53)
Talking to the people here, everyone's got a lot of questions about data surveillance these days. And it is clear that Palantir is this company that looms large in our collective psyche. But most people don't have a real sense of what they're actually doing.
So the event organizer wanted to show the power of what is possible. He combed the data out there, polled info about the attendees, and compiled dating profiles, and some potential matches.

**Zach Young** (3:21)
We are just not ready to get started and give you your match.

**Neil Patel** (3:23)
You're not going to find it.

**Zach Young** (3:24)
We're going to give it to you.

**Neil Patel** (3:25)
So step on over this way, down the hall to the right.

**Amanda Aronczyk** (3:35)
Hello, and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Amanda Aronchik. Today on the show, we're taking you to a singles event to learn about the company, Palantir, of course. What better way?
To a lot of people, Palantir is a mystery. What do they know? What data do they have? And what do they do with it all? We will dig into that mystery and our event goers attempt to find love in the data.
James Steinberg, the organizer of this Palantir-inspired dating night, has put together a bunch of random tech events over the years.

**James Steinberg** (4:14)
A lot of my events start with the pun or the joke.