A recent government report called Palentir’s presence an “unacceptable point of weakness.”
The UK government is reviewing its National Health Service (NHS) partnership with US data firm Palantir to decide whether it will end the contract early, Reuters reported. The move follows the publication of a parliamentary committee report which called Palantir’s growing presence in the UK public sector an “unacceptable point of weakness”.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said the review would assess the £330 million ($441 million) deal between the NHS and Palentir and decide whether to end it using a “break clause” at the end of the original term in 2027. “The current health secretary is looking at every aspect of this (contract) to make sure we get the right deal for Britain,” Kendall said. Radio Times.
Palantir won the NHS contract in November 2023 to help build its federated NHS platform connecting “vital health information across the NHS”, according to an explainer of the NHS contract. The deal was reached following a “rigorous” procurement process, with parties having to demonstrate “their financial, commercial, security and technical capabilities”.
However, British MPs are pushing for an early termination due to data security concerns and Palantir’s defense and immigration ties to the United States. It was also recently revealed that a senior official at a UK health advisory body had advised one of Palantir’s partners when bidding for the contract, according to a recent report from The financial position.
Critics have also raised concerns about how sensitive patient data is handled, following a report last month that the NHS could grant Palantir staff and others broad access to identifiable patient data on part of its data platform. “Palantir software can only be used to process data precisely in accordance with the customer’s instructions. Using the data for any other purpose would not only be illegal but technically impossible due to the granular access controls overseen by the NHS,” the company said in response.
