Zack Polanski Tells Palantir To “Get The Hell Out Of The NHS”

Quick Overview

Green Party leader Zack Polanski demanded that Palantir, a company with leadership tied to controversial political figures and implicated in aiding the Gaza conflict, immediately cease its involvement with the NHS, citing profound concerns over authoritarianism, data security, and the company's ethics following their receipt of a £330 million contract to run the NHS's federated data platform.

Key Points: Zack Polanski delivered a letter to Palantir, putting them on notice and stating campaigners will use every mechanism to force them to "get the hell out of our national health service" as their contract is up for renewal next year. Palantir received a £330 million contract in 2023 to run the NHS's federated data platform, a unified database intended to connect patient data across trusts. Palantir executives Peter Teal and Alex Karp have terrifying political affiliations, with Teal arguing that critics like Greta Thunberg are "legionnaires of the antichrist," and Karp being questioned about Palantir's AI role in the Gaza conflict. Polanski argues Palantir's ideology is deeply authoritarian, enabled by Home Secretary Shabbana Mammud's desire for a "panopticon of surveillance," and that the company is an active enabler of the genocide in Gaza. Palantir UK boss Louie Mosley, grandson of Oswald Mosley, claimed criticisms are based on a misapprehension, asserting Palantir does not have access to or monetize NHS data, and that their technology helped 80,000 Britons get appointments and treatments. The transcript details Palantir's work with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on a tool that uses data, including addresses from the US Department of Health and Human Services, to map and score potential deportation targets. Another speaker expressed extreme concern, stating that giving a company as unscrupulous as Palantir access to biometric health data through the NHS is "absolutely laughable" to believe they will not eventually gain ownership or access.

Context: The discussion centers on the controversy surrounding Palantir, a data technology giant, securing a £330 million contract in 2023 to manage the NHS's federated data platform, a system designed to unify patient data across trusts. This move is viewed critically against the backdrop of Labour's election pledge to modernize the NHS's antiquated data systems, with critics arguing that private sector involvement, especially from a company linked to figures like Peter Teal and Alex Karp, poses significant risks to data privacy and civil liberties, particularly given Palantir's involvement in surveillance and military technology.