Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#1

Post by wlscr » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 4:11 PM UTC

Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
tech.newstatesman.com

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#2

Post by zymhan » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 4:48 PM UTC

This should probably be updated to say "UK Govt" for clarity, not everyone will immediately know what the National Health Service is.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#3

Post by anonymousDan » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 4:50 PM UTC

As a UK taxpayer this makes me so angry. The fact this incredibly valuable (not to mention privacy sensitive) data is given away through backroom deals for a pittance without any transparency is just infuriating.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#4

Post by Semaphor » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

zymhan wrote: post #2

This should probably be updated to say "UK Govt" for clarity, not everyone will immediately know what the National Health Service is.

I actually think that should become a general rule. Way too many US-related titles about things far less well known than the NHS.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#5

Post by hyko » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 4:58 PM UTC

And that's why we don't trust "the good guys" with our data. There are no good guys, keep your damn data to yourself no matter what.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#6

Post by McDev » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

I'm confused about what data is being provided to these companies. Is it the patient data that my GP has for example, or is it purely data that the NHS aim to gather from the contact tracing app?

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#7

Post by xenospn » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:09 PM UTC

After reading the article, I think it's quite clear that both Palantir and Google paid someone off to get this contract.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#8

Post by paxys » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

zymhan wrote: post #2

This should probably be updated to say "UK Govt" for clarity, not everyone will immediately know what the National Health Service is.

Haha yeah my immediate thought after reading the headline was "no way the US government actually did something right". And turns out they didn't.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#9

Post by dekhn » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

anonymousDan wrote: post #3

As a UK taxpayer this makes me so angry. The fact this incredibly valuable (not to mention privacy sensitive) data is given away through backroom deals for a pittance without any transparency is just infuriating.

I live in the US and used to build products to deal with sensitive healthcare data. I recall talking to an Important Person from the NHS, years ago, who proudly told me that the NHS could do things with its healthcare data that US companies could not- without having to deal with things like HIPAA, etc.

I told them that while they might be able to do that, it would probably make a bunch of people mad if they weren't totally transparent about it.

Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech

#10

Post by drocer88 » Fri, Jun 05, 2020, 5:26 PM UTC

xenospn wrote: post #7

After reading the article, I think it's quite clear that both Palantir and Google paid someone off to get this contract.

"campaign" donations. Perfectly legal