Palantir has attracted controversy for its involvement with the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which is responsible for the removal of undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration tasked the ICE with increasing deportations, leading to a spike in the number of people being held in deportation centres. 

The agency has been repeatedly accused of racial profiling and violations of human rights. Palantir has provided technology for ICE’s systems that was used to “execute harmful policies targeting migrants and asylum-seekers”, according to Amnesty International. 

The human rights group found that the tech company’s software was used to plan the arrest of hundreds of people and the separation of children from their parents. 

Amnesty concluded that Palantir failed “to put an adequate due diligence process in place” and “to meet its responsibility to respect human rights”.

This damning verdict on the tech company’s ethical standards raises questions about its suitability to handle sensitive NHS health data. 

The British government’s ‘hostile environment’ approach to immigration has already resulted in a number of people, including refugee and asylum seekers, being denied urgent care, often in breach of eligibility rules. 

Mission creep

In more than one case, Palantir projects have been shown to pry beyond the scope of their contract or public oversight.

As above, when JP Morgan employed Palantir, the deal ended badly when the bank’s own bosses discovered the firm had gone so far as to spy on the bosses themselves.

The firm was again embroiled in overreach when the New Orleans Police Department took to using Palantir software for invasive police work, without the knowledge of city councillors responsible for the jurisdiction.

No public debate

Even if the UK government publishes the NHS contracts without critical redactions, and carries out full risk assessments, we should not assume that this will reveal the full extent of Palantir’s activity.

As citizens, we shouldn’t have to guess how our data might be used by the government and its partners. We deserve not only to know – but to be consulted before big deals like this get struck, not afterwards. 

We’re bringing an urgent legal challenge: demanding public consultation on this massive deal. To do this we need to raise funds to cover our cost risk. Can you back us?

This post was originally published on Radio Free.