Friday, 18 August 2023 — Crowd Justice

“We are demanding urgent answers”, say a coalition from the Doctors’ Association UK, Just Treatment and the National Pensioners Convention.

Last month they sent a legal letter to the government about the plans to centralise all UK health data into a new database, the “Federated Data Platform” (FDP). The government is currently running the procurement process for the management of the FDP and “US spy-tech firm Palantir is widely considered the bid frontrunner.”

The coalition are concerned “because, despite multiple requests, we still don’t have all the information we need about exactly how this platform will work, if and how the public will be consulted and whether the government will seek patient consent before they completely overhaul the way our most sensitive health data is managed.”

They plan to launch a judicial review if they don’t get answers.

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The group say that that “Palantir mainly has a history in military, security, and policing – not health.” They also point out that “Palantir’s chair, Peter Thiel recently described British love of the NHS as “Stockholm Syndrome” adding: “In theory, you just rip the whole thing from the ground and start over.”

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According to their case page: “A recent YouGov poll illustrated current public opinion about the plans. The results showed that if the FDP is brought in and run by a private company – like Palantir – 48% of adults in England who have not yet opted out [of sharing data] are likely to do so.

If even half that figure stopped sharing their health data it would be catastrophic for the future quality of NHS data – one of the most precious health resources we have as a country.”

Read the latest updates on the case here.

Thank you for support,

Maeve at CrowdJustice