United Kingdom

Archived version

...

MPs have told the government to cut its ties with Palantir, and end the US spy-tech firm's controversial involvement in the National Health Service's Federated Data Platform.

Warning against vendor lock-in across government, the House of Common science and technology committee said it was most concerned about Palantir, which had secured central roles in health and defense systems.

“Palantir should not have a such a significant role in the UK public sector… it is far from the only company capable of providing the data analysis ‘middleware’ required by public bodies,” the report from the Science Innovation and Technology Committee said.

...

The report notes concerns about Palantir’s origins as a company getting a foothold in government with security, immigration services, and defense contracts. It also describes the political musings of co-founder Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp.

However, it added: “Our view that Palantir’s increasing presence across the public sector represents an unacceptable point of weakness is not ideologically motivated or driven by concerns about the quality of their products. The government should retain the ability to pick and choose individual suppliers and safeguard against the risk of vendor lock-in and debilitating dependencies, particularly in areas of critical national importance such as healthcare and national security infrastructure.”

...

Palantir won the £330 million Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract in November 2023 after a procurement process, which NHS England, the soon-to-be-defunct health quango, maintained was open and fair. The award followed £60 million in Covid-era NHS contracts awarded without competition.

The committee recommended that the government use the February 2027 break clause in the FDP contract and either “develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative developed by UK-owned and UK-based providers that are more compatible with UK values, and do not pursue either technical or contractual dependencies.”

...

In a video posted to TikTok, where Katie Whitney has 2.5 million followers, she says to camera, bluntly: “This video is for Cynthia Erivo. If you’re not Cynthia Erivo … you can keep on scrolling.” Her demeanour then shifts, her voice becomes softer; more the way a person might talk to their puppy: “Hi Cynthia. Hi baby. Hey baby. How are you?” It’s toe-curling – or, in modern parlance, cringe – to watch. “I feel traumatised,” says one commenter. Others post photos of a stunned-looking Erivo and imagine: “What if the Wicked star were to actually watch this video?” Cringe!

Now 25, but having started making this kind of content – “weird skits” – at 20, Whitney is part of what is known online as CringeTok, a subsection of the internet that deals in content designed to make your toes curl. It’s in many ways a reaction to a fear of being “cringe”, which is seeping into all parts of life – from social media to classrooms to the workplace.

(Couldn't think of a better comm to post this in given there doesn't seem to be one for opinion pieces I could find)

Only 1 out of over 740,000 petitions has ever directly succeeded in changing government policy.