Boris had his parties at no. 10; Cameron his parties back at university; and Starmer had a bottle of beer in an MP’s office. But now there’s a new scandal brewing: and it’s to do with your personal health information.
First, we must have better IT in the NHS. It’s important that anyone treating you in hospital can get quick access to your GP notes, and vice versa. But at the end of last year, the tail end of the Tory Government signed a contract with US firm Palantir to get the software in place to put this access to data in place. US company Palantir will sell its software to NHS England for £480.
The British Medical Journal expressed alarm at the time. They explained that Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, with “funding from the CIA’s venture capital fund”. Medact, the peace and health campaign, put the price of the contract at £330m – and they had plenty more to say about Palantir. Medact calls Palantir a “US spy-tech firm” and claims that Palantir is supplying the Israeli state’s military forces with advanced AI weaponry. That fact alone will make many UK NHS users want to boycott Palantir, but Medact is also concerned about many other activities of the US company.
Campaign Launch 7-8.30pm, Wednesday, 6th November For more information and to register, go to: Medact Campaign Launch
Medact, supported by Health Workers for a Free Palestine and Health Workers 4 Palestine, is now launching a campaign to stop the contract. A Zoom meeting on 6th November will provide more information on Palantir and discuss what action to take to “fight for a health system free from genocide enablers, data surveillance and privatisation.”
This campaign is one further way for pro-Palestine/Gaza campaigners in East London to work for peace and good health for all of us. Register for the Zoom meeting, and start by learning more about this opportunist company.
●Read more about it: Stories about health campaigning