Palantir once more in sights of civil libertarians over NHS Covid information shop
The award of a brand-new government contract to information analytics supplier Palantir on the back of its involvement in the NHS Covid-19 data shop has provoked Open Democracy into legal action, backed up by a direct exposure of lobbying activity that pre-dates the pandemic
Media organisations Open Democracy and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism have acted in unison to put in concern the NHS and the UK state’s broader transactions with data mining company Palantir.
The Palo Alto-based company was co-founded by leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel in2003 And although its co-founder and CEO, Alex Karp, is a self-described socialist, the company’s client base in the CIA and the FBI has actually made it questionable among civil libertarians.
In March 2020, the NHS verified it was dealing with Palantir, Microsoft and Google to improve its data analytics efforts and make its fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus more efficient and efficient. From that work emerged the NHS Covid-19 Data Shop
NHS England’s web page on the store explains it like this: “The NHS Covid-19 Data Store rests on a Microsoft Azure platform under agreement with NHS England and NHS Improvement. Within that safe cloud processing environment, Palantir (acting under guideline from NHS England) manage their platform which is called Foundry.
” Palantir have actually developed analytical dashboards for gain access to by NHS England and Improvement staff, together with staff in the following organisations working under agreement: Faculty AI, McKinsey and Deloitte. Information which is pseudonymised is only readily available to staff working under agreement with the organisations running collectively under the NHSX banner. Palantir does not store the information itself, which remains under the control of the NHS.”
While it was reported, in March 2020, that NHSX and NHS England’s technical teams had built a back-end data store on Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure, to “bring multiple information sources into a single, safe and secure location”, it was Palantir Technologies UK that would supply the software, Palantir Foundry, that constitutes the front-end data platform. Palantir Foundry is said to make it possible for diverse information to be cleansed and incorporated.
” We’re taking the federal government to court because, right prior to Christmas, they quietly provided CIA-backed company [Palantir] a significant, long-term function in handling our individual health information, and in England’s treasured National Health Service”. Open Democracy
Open Democracy has now started legal proceedings versus the UK government for extending the “emergency” and virtually pro bono (a nominal cost of ₤ 1) contract struck with Palantir at the height of the very first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On The Other Hand, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has actually released a related story detailing lobbying by Palantir among senior NHS executives that pre-dates the coronavirus crisis and reaches back into 2019.
The Open Democracy organisation said, in a statement discussing why it is taking legal action against the federal government: “We’re taking the federal government to court due to the fact that, right before Christmas, they silently gave this CIA-backed company a major, long-term function in managing our personal health info, and in England’s treasured National Health Service.”
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed that Palantir’s UK employer, Louis Mosley, hosted a dinner gone to by David Prior, chair of NHS England, on 2 July2019 The bureau mentioned an email of which it has acquired sight, in which Prior stated: “Louis, thank you for hosting such a fascinating dinner and also for the watermelon cocktails! If you can see ways where you could help us structure and curate our information so that it assists us deliver better care and supplies a more informative database for medical research do be in touch.”
As reported by the BBC, the legal case, which is being managed by law firm Foxglove on behalf of its client Open Democracy, switches on whether a fresh Data Protection Impact Assessment is required for the new contract.
” The government shouldn’t utilize the pandemic as a reason to embed major tech companies like Palantir in the NHS without seeking advice from the general public, Foxglove director Cori Crider informed the BBC.
” The datastore is the biggest swimming pool of client data in UK history. It’s one thing to set it up on an emergency situation basis, it’s a various kettle of fish to offer a tech firm like Palantir an irreversible function in NHS facilities.”
Sky News cited an NHS spokesperson as stating: “The business is an accredited provider to the UK public sector. The NHS finished a Data Security Impact Evaluation in April 2020, and an upgrade will be released in due course.”
Palantir is not discussing the story.
Material Continues Below
Learn More on Expert system, automation and robotics
No comments:
Post a Comment