Palantir\u2019s NHS contract opens the door to the Big Brother-style data-sharing that Reform UK would use for a version of US immigration raids, health bosses have been told.<\/p>\n
Palantir Technologies \u2013 the data analytics company founded by Peter Thiel<\/a> and Alex Karp \u2013 won a \u00a3330m NHS England contract to deliver the Federated Data Platform<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n The UK government is urging health bodies to adopt FDP, which the health secretary, Wes Streeting, says will ensure the NHS<\/a> is \u201cbrought into the digital age\u201d.<\/p>\n But there are concerns about Palantir, whose AI tools are used in global conflicts, becoming embedded in the UK public sector.<\/p>\n A briefing by the health justice charity Medact<\/a> said the \u201chighly interoperable nature\u201d of Palantir\u2019s software could enable \u201cdata-driven state abuses of power\u201d, including US-style ICE raids<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report, released on Thursday and backed by doctors, lawyers, patients and human rights groups from the No Palantir in the NHS campaign and sent to hospital trusts and integrated care boards nationwide, was shared with the Guardian and BMJ.<\/p>\n In the US, ICE (US immigration customs and enforcement), uses Palantir software for cross-governmental data analysis, including health data, to track people down. In the UK, Reform UK, which announced plans for a UK version of ICE in February<\/a>, has said it would use data-sharing.<\/p>\n Palantir told the Guardian it had \u201cno intention of and no means of using the data in the way that the Medact report is suggesting. To do so would be illegal and in breach of contract.\u201d<\/p>\n However, concerns rest on Palantir software\u2019s cross-departmental \u201cdrag and drop\u201d capabilities if a future UK government changes the law, as Reform has pledged to facilitate \u201cmass deportation\u201d.<\/p>\n Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK has announced plans for a UK version of ICE. Photograph: Sean Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A 2025 policy document for Reform\u2019s \u201cOperation Restoring Justice\u201d<\/a> promised an \u201cuncompromising legal reset\u201d, adding: \u201cA Reform government will \u2026 relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK. Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police.\u201d<\/p>\n Palantir\u2019s software is used by UK police forces<\/a> and the Ministry of Defence. A company source said Palantir engages with and consults the UK government on policy matters, and vice versa.<\/p>\n The Medact briefing urges trusts and ICBs to \u201curgently decline\u201d FDP, and for NHS England<\/a> to terminate the contract, saying partnering with Palantir risks weakening patients\u2019 trust while \u201cdriving out locally tailored and trusted data solutions\u201d.<\/p>\n Greater Manchester ICB, which has health decision-making responsibilities for 2.8 million people, has deferred adopting FDP, concluding adoption \u201cmight not present value for money and have public trust risk\u201d and that \u201clocal capability significantly exceeded\u201d what FDP offered.<\/p>\n More than 50,000 patients have written to <\/a>local trust boards<\/a> urging them not to adopt FDP, Dr Rhiannon Osborne from Medact said.<\/p>\n Osborne added: Palantir\u2019s contracts with public bodies, including the NHS, are part of the expansion of invasive data and surveillance practices in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n The report said: \u201cThis report is concerned FDP, by bringing together disparate health datasets on to a single platform run by Palantir, could enable UK government departments, such as the Home Office and police departments, to more easily access patient data.<\/p>\n \u201cPalantir\u2019s services to other governments, including their contract with ICE, have involved significant cross-departmental data compiling and analysis \u2026 There is a risk that a current or future government could utilise a Palantir-run FDP for data-driven state abuses of power in ways which they could not with current NHS data systems.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Palantir said: \u201cPalantir software is playing an important role in improving patient care \u2013 helping to deliver 100,000 additional operations, a 12% reduction in discharge delays and the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists.<\/p>\n \u201cHow that software is used is entirely under the control of the NHS with data only able to be processed in accordance with their strict instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Department of Health<\/a> and Social Care was approached for comment.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n Contact us about this story<\/p>\n The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. 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