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The paper says that close cooperation with foreign technology providers could prevent the UK from achieving digital sovereignty. It is Palantir, which plays a key role in processing UK National Health Service (NHS) data, that MPs are most concerned about.
In November 2023, Palantir was awarded a contract worth around £330 million ($420 million) to build and maintain the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP). The project will create a single platform for storing, analyzing and sharing health information across healthcare providers in England and is considered one of the largest digital projects in the history of the UK healthcare system.
However, critics have warned that such a deep integration of the company’s technology could lead to the NHS becoming dependent on a single vendor. MedConfidential, a medical data privacy organization, has previously said that Palantir aims to take such an important place in the healthcare infrastructure that abandoning its services in the future would become extremely difficult and costly.
Concerns have been heightened following media reports of possible increased access to patient data by the company’s contractors. In addition, NHS officials have previously acknowledged that they are feeling pressure to accelerate the adoption of digital solutions and work more closely with large technology companies.
The report paid further attention to public statements made by Palantir management. Parliamentarians mentioned the statements of the company’s co-founder Peter Thiel, who criticized the British health care system, as well as statements by CEO Alex Karp that software is becoming a key tool of political and military power.
The report said the combination of technology dependence and the influence of a foreign supplier on critical public infrastructure posed long-term risks to the country. The committee recommended that the government exercise the right to terminate the contract with Palantir early, which will become available in February 2027, and start looking for alternatives among British developers or government agencies. According to the MPs, such a move will strengthen the country’s technological independence and reduce the risks associated with the transfer of key digital functions to foreign companies.
