The objections were simple to file. They will be harder for the government to ignore.
More than 44,000 people have now sent formal legal objections asking NHS England to stop the Federated Data Platform, the national system built on Palantir’s software, from using, storing or sharing their health data. The campaign, coordinated by the not-for-profit 38 Degrees, uses Article 21 of UK data protection law. Under it, the NHS must stop processing an objector’s data unless it can show a compelling reason to continue.
The objections arrive amid a widening backlash against the US company. Its work with the Israeli military and with Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has drawn protests, including a stunt on Wednesday outside Palantir’s London headquarters, where Amnesty International and campaign group Just Treatment parked a van styled like a shot-up Palestinian ambulance. Two House of Commons select committees have called on the government to exercise the break clause in the £330m, seven-year FDP contract. That clause comes into force in February 2027.
The decision that follows is a binary one, and it arrives quickly. Prime minister Andy Burnham will be required to back the platform or axe it within months.
Palantir says the platform is cutting waiting lists and freeing beds, and cites 117,000 additional operations, a 14.3 per cent reduction in discharge delays for long-stay patients and a 5.6 per cent improvement in patients learning their cancer diagnosis within 28 days. NHS England’s chief executive, Jim Mackey, has himself acknowledged that the public health benefits may not be as significant as claimed. A spokesperson said all NHS organisations remain in control of their data within the FDP and that supplier access is prohibited.
Veronica Hawking, campaigns director at 38 Degrees, said the scale of the backlash should be a huge wake-up call for government. For everyone else, the February clause is now the date to watch.
The Guardian reported the campaign exclusively, with further detail from the campaign groups and Palantir’s published statements.
