Campaigners claim NHS Palantir system could be accessed by police and immigration
- Reference: 1773321264
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/12/medact_palantir/
- Source link:
Palantir has denied the Federated Data Platform (FDP) could be used in this way under the current legislation, and said using the system as the campaign groups described would breach its contract with NHS England.
Palantir CEO claims AI will mean western economies won't need immigration [1]READ MORE
The [2]report that made the claim is written by medical campaign group Medact and endorsed by legal campaigner the Good Law Project, Privacy International, Just Treatment, Corporate Watch, United Tech, Allied Workers Union, and is supported by Amnesty International.
It argues the FDP contract, [3]awarded to Palantir for £330 million in November 2023 for seven years , could, by bringing together disparate health datasets onto a single platform run by Palantir, enable UK government departments to move sensitive information around.
"The FDP contains highly sensitive health data, which also needs to be protected from the UK government itself… Bringing together disparate health datasets onto a single platform run by Palantir could enable UK government departments, such as the Home Office and police departments, to more easily access confidential patient information," the report asserted.
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It noted how Palantir is used by other governments, including by the controversial US immigration agency ICE. The report argued there is evidence of "significant cross-department data compiling and analysis, which can be used to enable data-driven abuses of state power."
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"We raise concerns that a current or future government could abuse the data held in the FDP by utilizing the interoperability of Foundry and its ability to draw from other government datasets," the report added.
A spokesperson for Palantir said: "Palantir software is playing an important role in improving patient care - helping to deliver 100,000 additional operations, a 12 percent reduction in discharge delays, and the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists.
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"How that software is used is entirely under the control of the NHS with data only able to be processed in accordance with their strict instructions. Not only do we have no intention of and no means of using the data in the way that the Medact report is suggesting, to do so would be illegal and in breach of contract."
Medact said its report is designed to prepare NHS organizations including Trust Boards, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Health Scrutiny Committees, and Health Data Governance Committees for the rollout of the FDP in the NHS across England and said it outlines key concerns regarding the involvement of Palantir Technologies in NHS data infrastructure and operations.
"It is intended to inform and empower Trust decision-making about engagement with Palantir. At the time of writing, the FDP is not mandatory, and local health bodies are able to both raise concerns and decline to implement the FDP at the local level. It is the view of the authors, endorsers and supporters that, for the reasons explained in this document, there are many more suitable options for data management solutions for Trusts and ICBs," it said.
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The Register asked NHS England to comment.
[9]Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff
[10]Palantir spent $25M on CEO flights so Alex Karp could do all the talking
[11]Doctors told to give Palantir's NHS data platform the cold shoulder
[12]Palantir declares itself the guardian of Americans' rights
[13]Britain's Ministry of Defence signs on the dotted line with Palantir
In November last year, [14]Manchester ICB put off adopting the FDP for a second time . Responsible for the health services for 2.8 million people, the board said in May last year that NHS England had not addressed its concerns around risks.
An earlier report to the board by chief intelligence and analytics officer Matt Hennessey found Manchester's local capacity in data analytics "exceeds anything the FDP currently offers and that some of the capabilities we currently have actively in use… are around two to three years away from being fully operational with the FDP environment."
In May last year, an NHS England spokesperson said: "The Federated Data Platform (FDP) is already delivering for the NHS – helping to join up patient care, increase hospital productivity and ensure thousands of additional patients can be treated each month. More than 120 NHS trusts have signed up to use the platform, including 84 percent of hospital trusts, and 72 are already live as part of a phased rollout to provide better care and services for patients." ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/21/palantir_ceo_karp_claims_ai/
[2] https://www.medact.org/2026/resources/briefings/briefing-palantir-fdp/#summary
[3] https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/11/new-nhs-software-to-improve-care-for-millions-of-patients/
[4] 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=2abLxOfarXwg7FsjCV5rSKQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%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=44abLxOfarXwg7FsjCV5rSKQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] 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=33abLxOfarXwg7FsjCV5rSKQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] 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=44abLxOfarXwg7FsjCV5rSKQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] 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=33abLxOfarXwg7FsjCV5rSKQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/palantir_usda_seating_software/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/19/worried_about_the_cost_of/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/bma_palantir_nhs/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/palantir_american_rights/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/28/mod_palantir_deal/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/20/manchester_nhs_fdp_deferred/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Illegal and in breach of contract
Yup. "Illegal and breach of contract" means "this can change with the stroke of a pen, likely not even requiring primary legislation because of groundwork that has also, coincidentally, been put in place"
And implies "and we are ready and willing to do this once we are allowed"
Re: Illegal and in breach of contract
Since when has something being illegal and in breach of contract stopped anybody?
Re: Illegal and in breach of contract
Exactly. And even then, some secondary legislation can wipe out any illegality with the stroke of a pen.
"illegal and in breach of contract"
*today*.
Tomorrow, perhaps not so much.
Once the data has been collected and collated, then the law/contract can be changed to allow access.
The only way to be sure that can't happen is prevent the first part (avoid the data collection).
Re: "illegal and in breach of contract"
Too late Im afraid, my GP practice is on SYStm and under my patient record, EVERYTHING, has an entry from a text, phone calls letters from hospital medication diseases catalogued by codes
My record for over 10 years is huge and the genie is out of the bottle Im afraid
Is it an embarrassment and it betrays a severe and worrying lack of moral fibre in Whitehall that Palantir were even allowed to bid - let alone win - to provide services to the NHS.
That our current government doesn’t shut the door on them right now shows that they are little better than the government that they replaced.
"our", I thought this is WEF government, by the looks of who gets preferential treatment, contracts...
https://www.weforum.org/organizations/palantir-technologies/
Seriously?
'Moral fibre' , 'morality' and government only become coincident in fictional existences.
Denial
If corporation denies something, usually means it's happening, no?
'helping to deliver 100,000 additional operations, a 12 percent reduction in discharge delays, and the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists'
Without quoting any verifiabl evidence, 'helping' is doing some very heavy lifting here.
"the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists"
By simply deleting them for unclear reasons?
There are many strategies they use. One I particularly like is they give you appointment, where you discuss when your next appointment is going to be where they supposedly actually going to help.
I feel sorry for the numbers though, they got massaged so well, but never got happy ending.
"and the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists"
Oops! Where did that list of names go.
Illegal and in breach of contract
So technically possible then. I’m sure everyone involved can be trusted not to bend the rules.