Patient privacy fears as US spy tech firm Palantir wins £330m NHS contract
The NHS has sparked controversy by handing the US spy tech company Palantir a £330m contract to create a huge new data platform, leading to privacy concerns around patients’ medical details.
The move immediately prompted concerns about the security and privacy of patient medical records and the suitability of Palantir to be given access to and oversight of such sensitive material.
NHS England has given Palantir and four partners including Accenture a five-year contract to set up and operate the “federated data platform” (FDP).
The British Medical Association, which had previously voiced concern about the NHS’s alleged lack of scrutiny of bidders on “ethical” grounds, said Palantir’s winning bid was “deeply worrying”.
NHS England sought to allay such concerns. It stressed that none of the companies in the winning consortium would be able to access health and care data without its explicit consent; that it would retain control of all data within the platform; and that it would not include GP data.
It said the new software would be protected by the highest possible standards of security through the deployment of “privacy enhancing technology”.
Source: The Guardian, 21 November 2023