NHS Palantir data deal puts patient trust at risk, warn MP and privacy groups

NHS patients in England cannot trust that their data will be anonymised before it is handed over to a US spy-tech firm, a Tory MP has warned.

The health service today announced that controversial tech company Palantir will provide software to run its new data platform, despite concerns over the firm’s suitability for handling sensitive health records.

But data protection experts have told openDemocracy that the move could “seriously erode” public trust in the NHS.

Palantir has faced criticism in the past for contributing to software used by US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies that human rights groups accuse of abusing poor people, migrants and ethnic minorities.

NHS England has rejected data privacy campaigners’ calls to allow patients to opt out of having their health data shared on the so-called Federated Data Platform. It claims this is not necessary because patients’ data will be anonymised and the platform will be used for “direct care” only.

Conservative MP David Davis said “that is not good enough” and that the decision to award Palantir the contract “will prove a mistake”.

“It is virtually impossible to anonymise health data simply because of the density of the data in our health records and it being all too easy for that data to be re-identified,” he added.

Cori Crider, the director of tech justice group Foxglove, said the lack of an opt out “puts [the] government on a crash course with people’s expectation that they, not officials, should decide what’s done with their health data.”

Dr David Nicholl, spokesperson for the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), said that “basic issues of informed consent are being ignored, and this deal could lead to a loss of privacy and seriously erode patient trust”.

NHS England initially said that patients would be offered an opt out in a FAQ about the Federated Data Platform published in August. But this was explicitly ruled out when the document was quietly updated last month.

“Patients can only opt out of sharing their data for research and planning, not for direct patient care,” it said in answer to a question on the revised FAQ.

The stance seems to contradict assurances previously given by Nick Markham, a health minister, to MPs on the Health and Social Care Select Committee in August.

Markham had pledged in a letter to the committee that “we … will be clear about people’s rights and choice to opt out (where applicable)”.

Crider said Foxglove have sent legal letters to the government seeking commitments about the safeguarding of patient data and hinted that the group would consider going to court again.

In 2021, Foxglove and openDemocracy sued the government over its failure to consult the public before awarding a separate £23m contract to Palantir. The government subsequently backed down, promising to consult on future deals.