What was dismissed as a “conspiracy theory” just a few years ago is now gradually becoming reality in Great Britain: The US data company Palantir Technologies is gaining increasingly deeper access to the digital infrastructure of the British National Health Service (NHS) – including sensitive patient data of millions of people. The new debate was triggered by a report in The Guardian, which suggested that external Palantir employees could have access to identifiable NHS data. (The Guardian)
But the real scandal goes far beyond that.
Because it’s no longer just about software. It’s about the creeping transfer of an entire state healthcare infrastructure to a private US corporation with deep ties to the military, intelligence agencies, and global surveillance technology.
The birth of a digital health leviathan
Palantir was awarded a contract worth approximately £330 million in 2023 to build the NHS’s so-called “Federated Data Platform” (FDP). The aim: to centrally consolidate all of the UK’s health data – hospitals, GPs, waiting lists, diagnoses, medications, and potentially, in the future, real-time data from all areas of healthcare.
Officially, the government is selling the project as “modernization” and “efficiency improvement”.
Critics, on the other hand, speak of the emergence of a centralized health data megastructure, which authoritarian states could hardly have planned better.
Particularly alarming: According to internal NHS documents, a special “admin” role was even created that could grant external contractors – including Palantir employees – virtually unlimited access to sensitive patient data. (Reuters)
Who is Palantir really?
Peter Thiel originally founded Palantir with the support of the CIA’s investment arm, In-Q-Tel. The company worked in the US with, among others:
- the CIA
- the NSA,
- the Pentagon
- the Department of Homeland Security
- and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (en.wikipedia.org)
Palantir systems were used:
- for monitoring migration movements,
- for military target analysis,
- for data fusion between various authorities,
- and for linking huge amounts of information in real time.
This exact model is now being introduced into the British healthcare system.
Critics therefore warn that health data could no longer serve only medical purposes in the future, but could become part of a comprehensive state-private control apparatus.
From patient to data profile
The real danger lies not only in the data itself, but in how it is linked.
Modern AI systems operate on a simple principle:
the more data sources are centralized, the more complete a person’s digital profile becomes.
Health data is among the most sensitive information of all:
- mental illnesses,
- genetic risks,
- Medication use,
- Vaccination status,
- Lifestyle,
- Pregnancies,
- Addiction problems,
- chronic diseases.
When such information is linked with other government databases, a biometric societal profile is effectively created.
This is precisely what British doctors, data protection advocates, and members of parliament are now warning about. Several NHS-related groups are openly speaking of a potential “abuse of state power.” (The Guardian)
“Buy our way in”
A previous internal statement from Palantir’s circle seems particularly explosive today.
According to reports, the corporation’s strategy was
“buying our way in”—that is, gaining deep access to government systems through smaller contracts and partnerships. (en.wikipedia.org)
That seems to have happened now.
What once began with Covid databases is now evolving into a permanent infrastructure for:
- AI-powered health monitoring,
- central data analysis,
- algorithmic decision-making processes,
- and potentially future digital health checks.
The NHS is thus being gradually transformed from a public health system into a gigantic data platform.
The population was never really asked.
A key point of criticism:
Millions of Britons apparently never knew to what extent their data could be processed or made accessible to external companies.
Even internal NHS documents now warn of a massive “loss of public trust”.
The government emphasizes that everything is being done “safely”, “in a controlled manner” and “auditable”.
But we’ve already heard exactly the same promises:
- in Covid tracking systems,
- in mass surveillance,
- in facial recognition,
- and in the creeping digitization of state control structures.
History shows that
as soon as a technical infrastructure exists, its purpose almost always grows as well.
The real battle: Data sovereignty
The conflict surrounding Palantir is therefore far greater than a mere data privacy debate.
The question is:
Who will control the most sensitive information in a society in the future?
Democratically controlled public institutions –
or global technology corporations with intelligence connections, AI systems and multi-billion dollar government contracts?
Britain could be just the beginning. Similar models are now being discussed in other Western countries – under the heading:
“digital transformation of healthcare”.
Critics are clear:
The NHS is becoming a testing ground for a new era – an era in which health is viewed not only medically, but primarily from a data-strategic perspective.
