US Tech Firm Palantir Faces Intensifying Scrutiny Over It's Spy Tech And Global Military Activities And The NHS Contract

The immorality of using an arms industry and government surveillance company to maintain NHS patient medical data

Palantir Technologies, the US data analytics company founded with early backing from the CIA’s strategic investment arm, has become the centre of mounting controversy in the UK and internationally amid claims about its role in military operations, intelligence and public health data management.

Critics, including activists and healthcare workers, say Palantir’s technology has been used to support Israeli military operations in Gaza, contributing to surveillance and targeting systems. Pro-Palestine demonstrators have staged actions at Palantir’s London office, accusing the company of profiting from and facilitating violence against Palestinian communities.

Palantir was originally funded by In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital arm, and has longstanding contracts with various US intelligence and defence agencies. This historical link with US intelligence has fuelled broader concerns about its activities beyond commercial data services.

The firm’s £330 million contract with NHS England to build and manage the Federated Data Platform — a system intended to link and manage health and care data — has provoked protests from health workers and professional bodies. Opponents argue it is inappropriate for a private company with military and surveillance connections to handle sensitive public health data.

 

Further they are also opposed to a US company potentially having access to NHS patient data and the NHS being reliant upon a foreign entity accessing NHS data services and storage.

The British Medical Association has taken the rare step of severing ties with the Israel Medical Association, in part over concerns about Palantir’s involvement in both the NHS contract and the broader conflict, underscoring unease within the UK healthcare profession.

Palantir denies wrongdoing, saying its software can improve efficiencies and outcomes in healthcare, and insists that data access controls are governed by NHS policy. Government reviews and public debate continue as questions about transparency, ethics and the firm’s global role remain high on the agenda.

 

But the impact upon the NHS staffing levels also gives rise for concenr, especially as the current Government wants as much as possible to be handled by 'life sciences' aka AI in plaxce of real doctors and nurses.

 

Palantir has been linked to NHS redundancies where the UK Labour government has opted to close Commissioning Support Units, in order to migrate data towards Palantir. It is anticipated to lead to additional job losses across the Department of Health, NHS England (as it is restructured) and redundancies at Integrated Care Boards.

 

Source: SKWAWKBOX / greenparty.org.uk / Freedom News / Wikipedia

 

See also:

Palantir Embedded Further Into NHS By Offering FDP Focused AI Data Apprenticeships To NHS Staff

NHS Privatisation News Archive