NHS staff blockade the entrance to NHS England’s headquarters in central London demanding the cancellation of its contract with Palantir, which campaign groups say supplies advanced technology to Israel’s military, April 3, 2024US tech giant granted ‘unlimited access’ to patients’ data
HEALTH union reps, public ownership campaigners and Amnesty International UK demanded the NHS “cease all contracts with Palantir” today after the US tech company was granted “unlimited access” to patients’ data.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting was urged to reconsider a “staggering decision” to grant external staff from firms including Palantir access to patients’ identifiable data while working on its flagship platform.
An NHS England internal briefing note published today by the Financial Times said it would create an “admin” role which “permits unlimited access to non-NHS England staff” to the National Data Integration Tenant (NDIT) and identifiable patient data within it.
The NDIT is a part of a larger tool made to aggregate disparate NHS data into a single system called the Federated Data System, which earned Palantir a £330 million government contract in 2023.
As well as the controversial US tech firm, access to patients’ data could be given to any other outside firm contracted to work on the Federated Data System.
Previously, access to sensitive information required individuals working on the NDIT to apply for permission for specific data sets, the FT reported.
All-round access was initially meant to be reserved for NHS England employees with security clearance.
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