For the past year, openDemocracy and Foxglove have been fighting legal battles over the British government's secretive NHS data deals with controversial 'spy tech' firm Palantir, processing sensitive health data. Read the article here.
In March 2021 the government finally caved, committing not to extend Palantir's contract beyond COVID without consulting the public.
"It’s a major U-turn at a critical moment. The NHS, with its unique trove of structured health data, is powerfully attractive to tech corporations. Palantir and other US tech firms clearly stand to profit from managing or accessing this asset, estimated to be worth £10bn a year.
The NHS datastore is the largest pool of private health data in NHS history, and that raises questions too important to be settled in secret deals. Should it survive the pandemic? On what terms? Should Palantir manage it, or are there more trustworthy alternatives?
Our fight has been about trust. Palantir was founded by a Trump-backing billionaire called Peter Thiel. The firm has a deep and controversial history with US police, and has recently landed a new contract supporting UK border enforcement."
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