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user-inactivated  ·  2094 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: New details on Palantir, the commerical spying tool for law enforcement

I have a question. And I hope this doesn't sound crass or something. I have a lot of experience in weird and semi-illegal uses of technology. At what point between being born and now does a person decide "I want to do this for a living?" I figure I'll never understand. What is the motive? Money? Feeling like you're genuinely helping national security? I know that people on the other side of the law generally have better I.T. skills than governments, but who and what actually believes that this shit is going to work? How can you not feel the inherent violence in what you're doing? Sorry if I come across as too much of an idealist, but I figure by 2025 all you'll need to be able to do is hit "scan" and get any individual on this planet arrested for anything. And as soon as some crazy person gets power it's a historical tragedy all over again. Remember it's not just America.