Doctors to sue government over plans that could hand over NHS patient medical records to secret US tech giant
Doctors are preparing to sue the government over plans that could hand over the confidential medical records of millions of NHS patients to a secret US tech giant, the Mail can reveal.
The £480m plan to create a private central database is expected to include all health information held by the NHS – including doctors’ surgeries, hospitals and care homes.
The favorite for the contract is Denver-based Palantir, which makes surveillance software used by the FBI and CIA.
The £480million plan to create a private central database is expected to include all health information held by the NHS – including doctors’ surgeries, hospitals and care homes
Privacy campaigners say their questions have been ignored by Whitehall officials for months. Now a coalition of doctors and patients is seeking a judicial review to force the government to reveal details of the plan.
The group – which includes the Doctors Association, National Pensioners Convention and campaign group Just Treatment – is calling on the government to reveal what data will be shared.
Tory MP David Davis said the project, known as the NHS Federated Data Platform, “raises huge doubts” about the security of sensitive patient data.
Palantir founder Peter Thiel, a 2016 Trump supporter, called Britain’s love of the NHS “Stockholm syndrome”.
A Palantir spokesperson said, “We don’t collect or monetize the data, we simply provide the tools to help customers organize and understand their own information.”
An NHS spokesperson said the successful provider must “execute due diligence”.
