A Timeline of Palantir's Major Controversies

Not affiliated with Palantir Technologies Inc. This page pulls together dates and events already sourced in detail on our individual controversy pages, presented chronologically. See each linked page for full context and sourcing on that specific event.

Palantir's public controversies span more than a decade and several different countries and issues. Rather than repeating the full detail here, this page lays out the rough chronology — see the dedicated pages linked below for complete sourcing on each item.

2011 — ICE relationship begins

Palantir's work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement dates back to 2011, starting with tools like FALCON for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division. See our page on whether Palantir works with ICE.

2013 — PRISM name confusion

Following the first wave of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, Palantir denied any connection to the NSA's PRISM surveillance program, clarifying that its own unrelated "Prism" product is a financial data-analysis tool used by banks and hedge funds. See our page on whether Palantir spies on Americans.

2017 — The Intercept's XKEYSCORE reporting

The Intercept published reporting, based on documents from Snowden, describing Palantir's software as having helped the NSA expand a data-collection effort tied to the XKEYSCORE surveillance tool — a claim Palantir has since directly disputed. See our page on whether Palantir spies on Americans.

2018 — IRS contract begins

The IRS's Criminal Investigation division began using a Palantir platform, Lead and Case Analytics, to analyze financial records in fraud and money-laundering investigations. Reported payments for this work have grown substantially since. See our page on Palantir's IRS contract.

2020 — NHS relationship begins

Palantir's involvement with England's National Health Service began in March 2020, brought in under emergency COVID-19 procurement rules to help build the NHS COVID-19 Data Store. See our page on the Palantir NHS contract controversy.

2020 — Amnesty International's NYSE-listing briefing

Timed to Palantir's direct listing on the NYSE, Amnesty International published a briefing concluding there was a high risk Palantir was contributing to serious human rights violations against migrants and asylum-seekers through its ICE work. See our page on whether Palantir works with ICE.

2023 — Federated Data Platform awarded

Following a competitive process, a Palantir-led consortium was awarded the contract to build and run the NHS Federated Data Platform in November 2023 — a deal worth up to £330 million over seven years. See our NHS page.

2025 — ImmigrationOS and expanded ICE work

Palantir was awarded a $30 million contract in April 2025 to build "ImmigrationOS," described in ICE's own contract documents as intended to streamline enforcement operations. The same year, reporting described a former Y Combinator co-founder publicly criticizing the company over this work. See our ICE page.

2025 — DOGE-linked federal expansion and the "mega-database" controversy

Reporting connected Palantir's growing federal footprint — including expanded IRS and Social Security Administration work — to the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency initiative, prompting a formal letter from ten U.S. senators and representatives warning of potential privacy-law violations. See our pages on the IRS contract, the DOGE role, and domestic surveillance.

2026 — NHS cost and legal scrutiny intensifies

UK parliamentary committees and a health-justice charity briefing raised fresh concerns over the Federated Data Platform's legal basis, patient consent, and rising costs, with a contractual break clause approaching in 2027. See our NHS page for full detail on where this stands.