Of all the analytics firms in the world, why is Palantir getting its claws into UK health data?
- Reference: 1623753905
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/15/palantir_uk_sci_tech_committee/
- Source link:
The "something" in question is whether there are links between Palantir, the controversial military-linked US analytics company, and Cambridge Analytica, the UK analytics company [1]at the heart of the Facebook data scandal which worked with Donald Trump's campaign in the run-up to his 2016 election.
It was posed by Dawn Butler, a Labour MP and member of the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee, to which Hancock was giving evidence last week.
[2]
The health sec was there to see if there were any lessons to be learned from the UK's management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which left the country with one of the highest death rates for the disease worldwide. There are many, but they are for others to judge.
[3]
[4]
Butler, however, touched on a subject we've been covering at The Reg for some years. She also asked about links between Palantir and Faculty, the AI company which worked with the Vote Leave campaign headed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Hancock didn't know if he was aware of any links there either.
"I'm not... erm... I don't think I'm aware of that, no," he told the committee.
[5]
One doesn't have to go too far to figure out if there were any links. Palantir did work with the disgraced Cambridge Analytica, [6]according evidence from a whistleblower , and later, [7]according to its own admissions . "There were senior Palantir employees that were also working on the Facebook data," Christopher Wylie, a former contractor for Cambridge Analytica, testified before British lawmakers in March 2018. "There were Palantir staff who would come into the office and work on the data."
Palantir denied it at the time, but later told the [8]NYT : “We learned today that an employee, in 2013-2014, engaged in an entirely personal capacity with people associated with Cambridge Analytica. We are looking into this and will take the appropriate action.”
As for Faculty, it worked with SCL Elections, the affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, on projects about voter preferences during the US presidential election. This [9]video here shows ASI (Faculty) fellow Jack Hansom "outlining a process to predict personality traits from Facebook Likes".
[10]
Faculty said of this in a 2018 statement: "In response to recent reports in the media concerning Cambridge Analytica, we wish to clarify that ASI's [Faculty's former name] only relationship was with its parent company SCL, which was one of over 110 companies and organisations that have recruited from an internship programme which ASI organises."
But should Hancock have been aware of the links between Palantir, which won a contract to set up and manage the NHS Digital's COVID-19 data store, and Cambridge Analytica? [11]Our own reports at the time suggest the minister was aware of the broader scandal.
After all, Hancock himself tabled an amendment allowing the ICO to request that a data controller or processor hands over information within 24 hours, after public derision over the time it took the Commissioner to raid Cambridge Analytica's offices.
He might have been aware of the links, but he just doesn't think he is aware of any. We don't know.
Equally opaque was the line of Butler's questioning. She waved a copy of [12]Kyle Taylor's Little Black Book of Data and Democracy and offered to provide Hancock with a copy.
She then asked if "Palantir, Faculty or Cambridge Analytica or any other offshoot companies were supplying public data voter intentions, anything like that, to the Conservative Party."
This question, which offered little by way of a factual hook, was easily batted aside by Hancock, who said: "This has absolutely nothing to do with it, and where your accusations are unfounded and wrong is the companies involved in improving the way that we use data in government... have carte blanche. That is not true because all of this work is done within strict, careful protocols to make sure that we can use data to save lives."
There's lots we don't know about Palantir, [13]whose founder Peter Thiel helped fund the Trump campaign , and its role in the NHS, but there are some things we do know about the [14]CIA-backed firm .
[15]How do you solve 'disruption' at the UK border after Brexit? Let's call Peter Thiel! AI biz Palantir – you're hired
[16]Palantir: Never made a profit, we do something with family-separating ICE, we just lost $580m – please join our IPO
[17]UK govt publishes contracts granting Amazon, Microsoft, Google and AI firms access to COVID-19 health data
[18]Cambridge Analytica 'privatised colonising operation', not a 'legitimate business', says whistleblower
It was one of two small data science companies to get a role in the NHS COVID-19 data store project – the other being Faculty, which also has political links. Its former commercial principal [19]Ben Warner worked closely with Dominic Cummings during his time advising the prime minister, and was also closely involved with the Brexit campaign, so much so he was dubbed by [20]The Times as the "Leave campaign's data geek." Ben Warner's brother, current Faculty CEO Marc Warner, was also brought in to advise on Britain's COVID-19 strategy.
It is also true that the [21]contracts related to the data store – including those with much bigger companies like AWS, Microsoft, and Google – [22]were only published after threats of legal action .
We know Palantir signed a two-year deal with the government, seemingly without competition, taking its role well beyond the current coronavirus crisis (we hope).
We also know the government [23]only committed to limit Palantir's role in the data store after campaigners sought a judicial review , although the government said the legal action had nothing to do with it.
On Friday, none other than Cummings himself waded into the debate, [24]posting on Twitter that "the data dashboard that Faculty built with NHSX/Palantir… did NOT use ANY personal data, none went to Faculty/Palantir to make it. It worked on metrics like 'number of cases in each hospital'. It was for *management decision-making*, nothing to do with individual data."
He also alluded to the [25]recently delayed GP data grab (General Practice Data for Planning and Research, GPDPR), saying: "There are big questions re NHS-Digital & plans for *patient data* but this must NOT be confused with *covid dashboard which has NO patient data*, abandoning it [would] be disastrous [and] kill people. Sadly some campaigners deliberately conflate all this [and] spread misinformation."
Now, it is not for us to comment on whether the man who masterminded Vote Leave's Brexit campaign is in any position to comment about spreading misinformation. He's right to point out that the COVID-19 data store and GPDPR are not the same.
But there are questions we should be asking.
The first, most obviously, is: why Palantir? Are there not other data analytics companies out there with similar technical capabilities but without the political baggage?
We asked an analyst at a global research firm who'd been covering Palantir whether there was anything unique about the company's technology that merited its special treatment. He said it was unique in some "delivery capabilities" and that "15 years ago they were way ahead of the market" but now other companies "have developed a lot of the same capabilities."
There are lessons for Butler and others rightly concerned about the role of private analytics firms with political links at the heart of public-sector data programmes. We cannot be drawn into seeing everything as a conspiracy. At the same time, not everything is a coincidence. To figure out which, you have to be asking the right questions. ®
Get our [26]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2019/07/24/facebook_fined_5bn_over_privacy_snafu_by_federal_trade_commission/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YMjOnwlReGmst0fPbW0xbQAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMjOnwlReGmst0fPbW0xbQAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YMjOnwlReGmst0fPbW0xbQAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMjOnwlReGmst0fPbW0xbQAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/28/cambridge_analytica_not_legitimate_business_says_whistleblower/
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/28/palantir-employee-cambridge-analytica
[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/cambridge-analytica-palantir.html
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhvX9QCiZP0&t=1s
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/databases&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YMjOnwlReGmst0fPbW0xbQAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2018/04/30/ukgov_plan_to_grant_information_commish_power_to_demand_faster_access_to_data/
[12] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43504436
[13] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/technology/peter-thiel-donald-j-trump.html
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/10/palantir_denies_powering_prism_spy_system/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/17/uk_contracts_palantir_border/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/26/palantir_s_1_ipo_filing_ice/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/05/uk_government_publishes_covid_19_contracts/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2018/03/28/cambridge_analytica_not_legitimate_business_says_whistleblower/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/google_employee_helped_uk_government/
[20] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/leave-campaigns-data-geek-joins-no-10-3klj3566j
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/04/test_and_trace_ico_gdpr_complaint/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/05/uk_government_publishes_covid_19_contracts/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/30/ukgov_caves_over_nhs_palantir_lawsuit/
[24] https://twitter.com/Dominic2306/status/1403302443870470146
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/08/uk_gov_delays_gp_data_grab/
[26] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Matt Hancock
" I'm not aware"
Headline! Government Minister fails Turing test!
Re: Matt Hancock
"Please confirm to your knowledge that you are not a fully robotic being, were born an organic creature and do, in fact, possess what many cultures would call a soul."
"What? To my knowledge? Do a lot of people not know if they’re robots?"
Re: Matt Hancock
On the other side of that get out of jail free card: "I can't remember". They all seem to have learned that whatever they say, they mustn't perjure themselves.
... Hancock isn't sure if he's aware of ...
... whether there are links between Palantir, the controversial military-linked US analytics company, and Cambridge Analytica ...
Of course he's aware, of that and absolutely everything else that's going on.
How is it possible that he actually has to be asked about it and then have people believe the drivel that comes out of his mouth?
It's a Tory government and the UK has already seen what this one is worth.
What is there to ask him about with the exception of his resignation?
O.
I guess the same way people here are expected to believe what you say (honorific of choice) Bird.
As for Tory governments, that seems to be what people vote for in the UK. We haven't had anything you could call a Labor government since the seventies. That was observed to go so well we haven't had one since.
Even that Labour government were forced into Tory-ish policies by being in hock to the International Monetary Fund. The last true Labour gov. would be the guys who gave us the NHS.
They apparently did good sandwiches and beer at number ten though. Got to be better than wine and cheese.
dubbed by The Times as the "Leave campaign's data geek."
Finally! Proof that although I have worked with some right twonks over the years, it could have been someone worse. Or *worse* as they say in wannabe modern day *tech bloggage*.
And yet, despite all this, the ostrich voters of this country will still continue to bury their heads in the sand and try to justify their actions by saying that “sure, the Tories are bad - but they’re better than Labour or the Liberal Democrats”. There’s no evidence of this superiority, of course, and there’s quite a lot of evidence that the reverse is true - but still. Right wing Good, Left wing Bad. It must be so ‘cos it says so in the tabloid chip wrappers (in which category I also place The Maily Telegraph and The Times).
No wonder this country is screwed. It’s populated by imbeciles. /rant
I think that to be fair it is an issue with politicians overall, it is just this lot have been in for a while so what they are currently doing is seen as a Tory issue.
The issue of the Tory's being the best of a bad job is difficult to quantify as each group is going to have a different set of issues, each with their own side effect and result.
I am not supporting Hancock, almost every word that comes out of his mouth is meaningless or worse. That also goes for most of the Cabinet. up to the PM.
All our current generation of politicians do seem to be rubbish. I do think part of the problem is the MASSIVE amount of money donated, particularly to the Conservative Party, so the parties don't need capable and impressive senior figures.
What we need is to stop giving politicians such a massive amount of power. We need damage limitation rather than big changes! What we really need is a period of minority governments, with fairly frequent changes of power, driven to compromise.
I sympathise with your cynicism - but I don’t agree with it.
Some politicians are in it to extract whatever benefit, usually financial, that they can for themselves. This seems to be the case for a majority of Conservative politicians (including UKIP / Brexit party, which are broadly conservative in their outlook), and a minority of Liberal and Labour politicians (even more so with the Greens).
Other politicians are in it for the public good, and genuinely believe that the views that they hold and the policies that they promote are for the benefit of the country and the wider population. As far as I can see, this holds true for the majority of centre and left wing politicians, whether I agree with them or not. You can be sure that I disagree with much of what Jeremy Corbyn stood for - but equally sure that I admire the man for trying to do what he genuinely believed would do the most good for the people of this country.
So who would I rather govern the country? Venal, grasping, rapacious predators who will stop at nothing to line their own pockets (the Conservative party). Or clumsy, sometimes naive, do-gooders who cock up once in a while whilst trying to deliver a better life for the broadest spectrum of people? Well, neither of-course - I’d rather a competent well oiled machine trying to deliver a better future for us all. But given hobsons-choice (a government trying to deliver in our best interest or no best interest at all) I’ll take the hippy over the pirate every single time.
Politics is rarely about facts and almost always about sentiment. The Labour Party took northern working class voters for granted for too long and, as some wag recently put it, have taken to telling people that they're wrong for not voting for them.
I don't expect the recently converted Tory voters to stick with them once they realise they've been sold a dummy, but that might not happen for a while and even then might simply be a return to not voting. This is what Cummings, et al. understood: people want a sense of being listened to. As long as that's the case they don't care what Trump, Johnson, etc. get up to.
Politicians should always listen - but they should also be brave enough not to deliver if what is being asked for is not in our best interest. Part of that contract is to explain clearly why what was being asked for is not in our best interest of course - I don’t know how to fulfil that part in the 21st century, but maybe part of it is focussed, single message, YouTube videos which educate on a particular concept without any party political advertising. Useful topics might include (after the nag has done a runner):
* What Europe has done for us
* The benefit of proportional representation
* The importance of lockdown
* Why vaccination works
I’m sure that we can all think of others.
In the homeland of Tolkien
Does no one remember it is Sauron who wields control over the Palantir?
Do read "First Platoon" on what this company is up to. Its breadth of surveillance is quote astonishing.
When I was at Conference, brothers and sisters...
"Are there not other data analytics companies out there with similar technical capabilities but without the political baggage?"
Maybe, but Palantir is one of very few with a history of being repeatedly represented at very senior level (e.g. Thiel himsel on multiple occasions, also Alex Karp) at the Bilderberg conferences.
Further reading via:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bilderberg_participants#United_States_4
Representing the UK, you'll find Dido Harding as a participant, fwiw. And some past or present very senior Barclays execs, and past or present very senior BP execs, and ..
Here's the US-based part of the list, you may recognise names such as Bezos, Gates, Gerstner, Nadella, Schmidt, etc. Facebook are represented, just not by Zuckerberg (he's just the fall guy).
Sam Altman (2016),[16] President, Y Combinator;co-chairman of OpenAI
Jeff Bezos (2011, 2013),[10] Founder and CEO of Amazon.com
Timothy C. Collins (2008–2012), CEO of Ripplewood Holdings[2][53][22][10][3]
David M. Cote (2016),[16] Chairman and CEO, Honeywell
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. (2016),[16] President and CEO, TIAA
Bill Gates (2010),[151][22] Chairman of Microsoft
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.,[152] former CEO of IBM
Donald E. Graham (2008–2010),[2][22] CEO and chairman of The Washington Post Company, board of directors for Facebook
H. J. Heinz II (1954),[119] CEO of H. J. Heinz Company (deceased)
Mellody Hobson (2016),[16] President, Ariel Investment, LLC
Reid Hoffman (2016, 2019),[16][50] Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
Chris Hughes (2011),[10] Co-founder of Facebook
Kenneth M. Jacobs (2016),[16] Chairman and CEO, Lazard
James A. Johnson (2016),[16] Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners (deceased)
Vernon Jordan (2016),[16] Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
Alex Karp (2016),[16] CEO, Palantir Technologies
Klaus Kleinfeld (2016),[16] Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
Henry Kravis (2008–2016), co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts[2][53][22][10][3][11][12][13][16]
Richard Levin (2016),[16] CEO, Coursera
Divesh Makan (2016),[16] CEO, ICONIQ Capital
Scott Malcomson (2016),[16] Author; President, Monere Ltd.
Craig Mundie (2016),[16] Principal, Mundie & Associates
Satya Nadella (2019[50]), CEO of Microsoft
Eric Schmidt (2008,[2] 2010,[22] 2011, 2013–2016,[11][12][13] 2019[50]), Executive Chairman of Alphabet
Peter Thiel (2007–2016, 2019),[2][153][154][67][23][better source needed][16][50] President of Clarium Capital and PayPal co-founder.
If Dominic Cummings says there's nothing to worry about...
Then surely that must be more than enough for the likes of us.
Re: If Dominic Cummings says there's nothing to worry about...
Cummings is like Trump. Both can't accept that they have lost the power in Government that they once had.
Both lie as soon as they open their mouths.
Unlike Trump, Cummings isn't (yet) trying to overthrow the elected government of their country.
Watch this space.
Not just about personal data
It worked on metrics like 'number of cases in each hospital'. It was for *management decision-making*, nothing to do with individual data."
While it is less obnoxious for Palantir to be involved in non-personal data, the management data is, of course, also massively valuable to anyone looking to cash in on the Tories' privatisation of the NHS.
The Lord Hall defence
"With the benefit of hindsight I don't remember, but I trusted my appointees who failed me, and I made Bashir cry so anyone would have cleared him."
The British establishment has sank into a nadir or corruption not seen since the Rotten Boroughs. The chumocracy has killed hundreds of thousands of citizens yet the lack of accountability is palpable.
Whether or not Palantir makes money, or how, is an interesting question, given their secrecy, and their main role as an outsourced spy agency of the US government. But Alex Karp made the news for getting the largest compensation of anyone in the US last year, making $1.1 BILLION US dollars. That probably warms the hearts of Tories, who like the rich to get richer and recognize CEOs as the American version of royalty.
Answers
on the back of a large pay packet in a large brown envelope.