Palantir Technologies—Palantir won £330M seven-year NHS England contract to centralize data from 240 NHS trusts
In 2023, Palantir was awarded a seven-year £330M contract with NHS England to build a Federated Data Platform, centralizing patient data from up to 240 NHS trusts and integrated care systems. Critics raised concerns about a surveillance-focused company managing sensitive health data, including mental health records, cancer screening, and STI vaccination data. The Department of Health data showed over 300 different purposes for processing information had been created. A former NHS AI lab director who had pledged to close the COVID datastore later left to join Palantir, raising revolving-door concerns.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolving Door | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -1.073 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.64)
Evidence (2 signals)
New Statesman investigated Palantir's £330M NHS contract and revolving door concerns
The New Statesman reported on the £330M seven-year contract with NHS England to build a Federated Data Platform, noting that a former NHS AI lab director who had pledged to close the COVID datastore subsequently left to join Palantir. Critics expressed concerns about 300+ data processing purposes and the centralization of sensitive patient data.
openDemocracy revealed 300+ purposes for Palantir processing of NHS patient data
openDemocracy obtained Department of Health data showing over 300 different purposes had been created for processing information in the NHS system running on Palantir's platform, including patient data on mental health, cancer screening, and sexually transmitted infection vaccines.