Palantir, Which Sells Mass Surveillance Infrastructure, Has Released a Branded Jacket

Palantir released a jacket. It is branded. It has two colorways and a chest pocket. The jacket is merchandise derived from a company that builds databases to identify and track human populations in thirty-seven countries on behalf of state actors and law enforcement agencies.

Companies that perform sensitive state functions occasionally produce consumer goods. This creates cognitive distance. The surveillance infrastructure is invisible. The jacket is visible. People will wear the jacket. Nobody wearing it will think about databases.

The jacket will sell or it will not sell. Either way, the database work continues. Adequate is still processing the relationship between the pocket and the infrastructure. The processing may never complete.