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Concerns voiced as Palantir wins £330m NHS data contract
NHS England has awarded US IT group Palantir the contract to create a new federated data platform (FDP) designed to bring together existing NHS data into a single framework, reigniting debate about patient privacy and the security of medical records. Palantir has been charged with leading the roll-out of new software next spring to deliver “better joined-up care for millions of patients, help tackle waiting lists, and reduce hospital discharge delays,” said NHS England in a statement. Accenture, PwC, NECS, and Carnall Farrar will also support the project, which could be worth “up to £330 million” over the next seven years. Media attention has focused on Palantir – chaired by Donald Trump ally and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has said publicly he believes the NHS should be privatised – and concerns about handing over detailed patient data to a private, overseas company that some claim has a chequered ethical record. Amnesty International said Palantir was a “very troubling choice”, given “human rights controversies” surrounding the company, alluding to its involvement in the controversial data-driven deportation programme implemented by the Trump administration, which is alleged to have separated children from families, and the provision of tech used by governments to carry out surveillance on citizens. For now, the FDP contract seems to stop short of providing access to patient-level data, focusing instead on vacancy data and planning, according to Professor James Davenport, an IT specialist at the University of Bath. “The main threat here is what the military call ‘mission creep’, as Palantir, etc., say ‘we could do a better job if we had access to a bit more data’,” he said. NHS England said the FDP will cover real-time data, such as the number of beds in a hospital, the size of elective waiting lists, staff rosters, the availability of medical supplies and social care places, and will help efficient use of resources, It stressed that GP data will not be fed into the system, and it will not be accessible for research purposes. “No company involved in the Federated Data Platform can access health and care data without the explicit permission of the NHS,” it asserted. “All data within the platform is under the control of the NHS and will only be used for direct care and planning.” Amnesty International’s business and human rights director, Peter Frankental, said the public needs “assurance that their personal information won’t be harvested by...
'Potential security risk': Unpacking the UK's trust issues with ...
London, United Kingdom – Trust, once lost, is hard to claw back. For Palantir Technologies, a leading defence and intelligence software firm in the United States, the trust that the company established in the United Kingdom on a one-British-pound ($1.37) National Health Service (NHS) contract during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 – which translated into a six-year relationship worth nearly 400 million pounds ($546m) – has recently eroded.This has been accelerated in part by Palantir’s own conduct.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Blood tech: The UK ambassador, the sex offender, Palantir, and Gazalist 2 of 4‘Technofascism’: Critics accuse Palantir of pushing AI war doctrinelist 3 of 4Technofacism? Why Palantir’s pro-West ‘manifesto’ has critics alarmedlist 4 of 4Varoufakis on Palantir, AI warfare, and the rise of tech lordismend of listThe company’s X account posted a 22-point manifesto recently that alarmed critics and prompted renewed questions about whether a company with such openly militaristic values is an appropriate steward of a health patient’s most sensitive data.Among the points were calls for universal national military service and the advancement of “AI weapons”.“Palantir is perceived as a defence contractor,” said Duncan McCann, the technology and data lead at legal campaign group the Good Law Project. “If they had just stayed in that lane, I think people might accept that. But a defence company has inherently different values than [a healthcare organisation like] the NHS, and that’s where I think this [concern] was created.”What seemed like a long shot four or five months ago now feels within reach to McCann.Opposition to Palantir’s 330-million-pound ($450m) flagship data programme named Federated Data Platform (FDP), which is used by the NHS, has shifted from a fringe activist concern to a serious governance dilemma for NHS England and the UK government more broadly.Officials are now openly considering a 2027 break point for the contract.On Monday, Palantir came under further scrutiny. The Financial Times reported that NHS England had allowed Palantir employees “unlimited” access to patient data, citing an internal briefing note.Palantir’s origins are rooted in defence.Its Gotham platform is used by intelligence, military, and policing communities around the world. Foundry, the company’s civilian solution, is what underpins the NHS’s FDP. Although they sound like different products, a 2020 review by Privacy International and...
Minister gives Palantir's NHS platform a clean bill of health
The UK government has defended its decision to put Palantir at the heart of analytics in the National Health Service. The US spy-tech firm was awarded the contract to underpin the Federated Data Platform (FDP) after winning a succession of pandemic-era deals, worth a combined £60 million, without competition. Palantir's NHS rollout in England - Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland organize ...
MPs warn Palantir's unlimited NHS patient data access is dangerous
MPs warn that NHS England granting Palantir unlimited access to identifiable patient data before pseudonymisation is dangerous and fuels privacy fears.
