The Patients Association said it was concerned that patients were not consulted on the change to data access. Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said patients wanted transparency, clear boundaries around access to their data, and to be consulted when changes to those agreements are proposed, according to The Guardian. MP Rachael Maskell called for the Palantir project to be stopped, describing it as a dangerous development, as reported by The Guardian.
The internal NHS briefing said the move would allow unlimited access to non-NHSE staff to part of the NHS's federated data platform, which holds identifiable patient information, according to the Financial Times. The leaked NHS England briefing acknowledged considerable public interest and concern about how much access to patient data Palantir and its staff have. In 2023, NHS England said it would ensure personal data remains protected and within the NHS at all times.
Using the data for anything else would not only be illegal but technically impossible due to granular access controls overseen by the NHS.
It stressed that external consultants requiring data access must have government security clearance and that it had strict policies in place for managing access to patient data. Palantir, which was awarded a £330m contract to help build the FDP, installing AI systems to integrate health datasets, defended its role as a data processor with strict controls. The company said instances when contractors saw identifiable patient data while working on the system's pipelines were logged, but contractors did not have permission to remove the data from the NHS.
Palantir stated that using the data for anything else would be illegal but technically impossible due to granular access controls overseen by the NHS. Palantir also supports Donald Trump's ICE immigration crackdown and the Israeli, US and UK militaries, adding to scrutiny of its NHS contract. The exact number of Palantir staff who accessed identifiable patient data and the specific data involved remain unclear.
It is also unknown whether the government will review or halt the contract following MP warnings.