Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, told openDemocracy: “Yet again, the revolving door between Palantir and the Department of Health and Social Care proves that the rules that are supposed to govern conflicts of interest in Whitehall are unfit for purpose.”
“Short-term emergency COVID powers cannot and must not be used to secretly embed private companies within our National Health Service and give private companies access to sensitive patient data.
She added: “Our National Health Service is our country’s greatest institution and our greatest asset. It should be run in the interests of the people who work for the NHS, the people who rely on the NHS and all of us who love and treasure it, not in the interests of private companies that seek to profit from health services and patient data.”
Kailash Chand, the former deputy chair of the British Medical Association who recently passed away, previously condemned Palantir’s work in the NHS, saying it will damage trust.
“It makes it difficult for people like me to convince ethnic minority people that this is being done in their best interests,” he said. “The secrecy around what the government is doing with NHS data, working with companies like Palantir, will damage what trust is left amongst ethnic communities, for migrants, and in the NHS family as a whole.”
Palantir has increased its presence in the UK in recent years, with its technology being used by the government, police and NHS.
In 2016, the Metropolitan Police trialled the company’s predictive policing software – which has been accused of creating a “racist feedback loop” in some American police forces. Palantir later agreed to pay $1.7m to settle a US government lawsuit over allegations of racial discrimination, although it did not admit any wrongdoing.
Responding to questions about former Palantir staff getting jobs in government, the Department of Health and Social Care said the Test and Trace scheme has "drawn on expertise from across the public and private sectors".
A spokesperson said: "We have robust rules and processes in place in order to ensure that conflicts of interest do not occur and we continue to ensure all contracts are awarded in line with procurement regulations and transparency guidelines. Proper due diligence is carried out for all government contracts and appointments, and we take these checks extremely seriously."
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