The EFF analyzed police searches of automated license plate reader databases and found officers across the country entering absurd, joking, or nonsensical reasons—like "LOL," "LMAO," "idk," and keyboard mashing—to access location data on drivers with no judicial oversight or meaningful accountability.

• Officers from dozens of departments logged searches with reasons like "LOL," "sexy," "weird kid," "dickhead," and random keyboard strings (asdfga, hjknuilh), treating mass surveillance access like a personal tool.
• More than 30 agencies ran over 6,300 searches justified only with "TBD," and Priceville Police Department alone logged 1,954 searches this way, showing systemic absence of real documentation.
• Police departments responded with minimal consequences—counseling, vague promises of review, or citing union contracts that shield officers from investigation after 90 days.

After Palantir became the tech backbone for Trump’s immigration enforcement, current and former employees warned of a “descent into fascism.” Workers now question the company’s role as it deepens ties with an administration they view as attacking immigrants and fueling conflicts abroad. Palantir says it promotes internal debate and does not endorse a single ideology.

• Palantir's expanded ICE contracts to track and deport undocumented immigrants triggered internal alarm, with two former engineers coining the phrase "tracking Palantir's descent into fascism" as a running joke turned genuine concern.
• Employees who once saw their work as defensible post-9/11 national security efforts now view similar work as morally compromised under Trump's immigration crackdown.
• Staff are increasingly pushing back internally via meetings and Slack over the company's role in surveillance, deportation enforcement, and potential involvement in an Iran conflict.
• Palantir's official response emphasizes its culture of "fierce internal dialogue" and ideological diversity rather than addressing the substance of employee concerns.