Palantir: Why is the Israel-linked surveillance firm embedded in Britain’s NHS?
British PM Keir Starmer (right) tours Palantir Technologies headquarters with company employees and British military personnel in Washington on 27 February 2025
Fleur Hargreaves writes in Middle East Eye on 28 January 2026:
The UK government is facing growing pressure over its decision to award large government contracts to Palantir Technologies, a US-based data and artificial intelligence company.
Partially funded by the CIA at its inception, the company has faced heavy scrutiny after receiving a £330m ($413m) contract with NHS England in 2023, which is up for renewal in 2027.
It was also recently awarded a £240m deal with the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) in December, three times more than a previous contract signed in 2022. Palantir entered into a strategic partnership with the MoD in September, in which it pledged a £1.5bn investment to “boost military AI” and to “work together to transform lethality in the battlefield”, according to a government press release. Aspects of the deal included developing a so-called “kill chain”, which uses advanced data management and AI to better strike “enemy target[s]”.
This increased integration of the tech firm within the UK’s health service and armed forces has raised alarm among campaigners, who point to the company’s involvement in the genocide in Gaza and US President Donald Trump’s lethal campaign against unauthorised immigration.
British MPs have also raised concerns about Palantir’s defence contracts following an investigation that revealed the Swiss army had rejected the company over fears that US intelligence agencies would gain access to sensitive data.
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, told The Guardian in December that the government “needs to undertake transparent due diligence” in reviewing contracts with Palantir.
A number of medical advocacy organisations, including Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) and the British Medical Association (BMA), have been vocal in opposing the company’s NHS contract, which would create a Federated Data Platform (FDP) to centralise patient information and facilitate health trend analysis.
Although developing this technology would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery, medical workers have questioned whether Palantir is the right partner for the job, given concerns over its ties to intelligence agencies and involvement in surveillance operations.
If developed further, Palantir would become integral to NHS operations.
Medical data used for military apps
The BMA passed a resolution in June declaring Palantir an “unacceptable choice of partner” for the NHS. Dr David Wrigley, the BMA’s deputy chair, said in the statement: “If Palantir’s software is being used to target individuals in immigration enforcement and is being deployed in active conflict zones, then that’s completely incompatible with the values we uphold in the delivery of care.”