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The UK government has ended Palantir’s NHS data deal. But the fight isn’t over

After two legal cases initiated by openDemocracy and Foxglove, the government has scrapped its contract with the ‘spy tech’ firm. But bigger battles over the NHS’s future await

By Cori Crider
The UK government has ended Palantir’s NHS data deal. But the fight isn’t over
Palantir won three contracts to manage the largest pool of patient data in NHS history | SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo
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You could perhaps forgive me for doing a little fist pump last week after hearing that the UK government had binned a software contract with US ‘spy tech’ giant Palantir.

Perhaps now, after two legal cases initiated by openDemocracy and my tech-justice group Foxglove - and a massive campaign involving more than 50 groups - the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is slowly getting the message that embedding shady tech firms in health and social care is self-defeating.

But the battle is not over. The Palantir fight, like the wider punch-up we and our allies fought over the NHS Data Grab, is a prelude to a larger struggle over the NHS’s future. Public outcry still works; but only sustained effort will protect the NHS from tech-profiteering.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0