Health workers are urging NHS decision-makers not to sign contracts with controversial US data analytics firm Palantir, citing ethical concerns around human rights and data privacy.
In 2023, Palantir won a seven-year, £330m NHS England contract to deliver the Federated Data Platform (FDP), a nationwide system intended to connect disparate healthcare data from across the NHS while maintaining security and patient privacy.
While the system is not yet fully operational, many hospital trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) have already signed up to use the platform.
Highlighting how Palantir’s operations around the world have allegedly contributed to “human rights abuses, war crimes, discriminatory policing practices and mass surveillance”, Medact said the firm’s cosiness with law enforcement and border agencies could lead to “data-driven state abuses of power” if people’s sensitive health information is shared with these bodies.
“This report is concerned that the FDP, by bringing together disparate health datasets onto a single platform run by Palantir, could enable UK government departments, such as the Home Office and police departments, to more easily access patient data,” it said.
Medact added that Palantir’s services to other governments, including in its contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have “involved significant cross-departmental data compiling and analysis”, enabling data given to one government department to be repurposed for profiling and surveillance by others.
[We are] concerned that the FDP, by bringing together disparate health datasets onto a single platform run by Palantir, could enable UK government departments to more easily access patient data Medact report
“As well as the potential risk for a current or future UK government to attempt to emulate US-style cross-governmental data sharing, there is a serious risk of Palantir’s contract alienating patients most affected by health inequalities due to this perceived risk,” said Medact, adding that during the pandemic, health advocacy group Patients not Passports found that around 57% of migrants avoided seeking healthcare because they were concerned about being reported to or identified by the Home Office.
Medact said it is concerned that this situation will be made worse by the involvement of Palantir, given its enthusiasm for working with ICE and the existing data-sharing agreements in place between the UK Home Office and the NHS.
These concerns are compounded by the prospect of a potential Reform UK government, as the party has already pledged to facilitate “mass deportations” if it wins power.
According to a Reform policy document published in August 2025, titled Operation restoring justice, the party is aiming to implement an “uncompromising legal reset” and promises to “relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK”. It stated: “Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police.”
Alongside Palantir’s stated intention to dominate national software provision in the US and allied countries, as well as its active contracts with UK police forces and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Medact warned that there is a real threat of its involvement undermining data privacy and public trust in UK healthcare institutions.
Policing and military contracts
Outside of its close collaboration with ICE – which is currently engaged in aggressive mass deportation efforts across the US, using unidentified masked agents to conduct operations, and employing fascist rhetoric in its communications and recruitment drives – Medact also highlighted how Palantir assists violent military and policing institutions.
This includes supplying software to the US military during its illegal wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing police forces across the US and Europe with widely critiqued digital “predictive policing” tools, and supplying artificial intelligence (AI) products to the Israeli military.
Storebrand Asset Management, one of the largest asset managers in the Nordic region, divested its holding in Palantir in October 2024, stating that its research indicates that Palantir’s “AI-based predictive policing systems” support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Given Palantir’s penchant for working with defence and policing organisations, Medact reiterated that the firm’s involvement in the FDP and other NHS systems represents a clash of values that could undermine public trust.
It added that Palantir is also “likely to benefit reputationally” from NHS contracts, by essentially allowing the firm to launder its own public image by associating with a popular institution.
We argue that NHS England’s contract with Palantir is likely to strengthen Palantir’s software and reputation as a company. Given the highly interoperable nature of Palantir’s different civil and military products, this could indirectly result in the NHS contributing to the advancement of militarised technology used to commit alleged human rights abuses Medact report
“We argue that NHS England’s contract with Palantir is likely to strengthen Palantir’s software and reputation as a company,” said Medact. “Given the highly interoperable nature of Palantir’s different civil and military products, this could indirectly result in the NHS contributing to the advancement of militarised technology used to commit alleged human rights abuses.”
Medact added that, given Palantir’s questionable track record on surveillance and human rights around the world, adopting its technology could see hospital trusts, ICBs and NHS England fall foul of their own ethical procurement policies.
It added that there is a risk of trusts and ICBs being locked into a single supplier, reducing their “ability to transfer to a different supplier or retain full autonomy over the code behind their data management systems”.
In particular, the CDAON cited issues of public trust associated with Palantir’s handling of sensitive health data, and highlighted that viable alternatives already exist.
“We already have similar tools in use that presently exceed the capability and application of what the FDP is currently trying to develop or roll out at a system level,” they wrote.
Medact’s report has been sent to decision-makers sitting across the NHS, including trust boards, ICBs, health scrutiny committees and the Health Data Governance Committee.
Recommendations and Palantir response
To alleviate the concerns identified in its report, Medact has recommended that NHS decision-makers decline to implement the FDP or any other Palantir products in their local data systems, scrutinise their current contracts with the supplier, and investigate the feasibility of in-house or open source alternatives.
Medact has called for NHS England to immediately terminate its Palantir contract.
A spokesperson for Palantir said the firm’s “software is playing an important role in improving patient care – helping to deliver 100,000 additional operations, a 12% reduction in discharge delays and the removal of 675,000 patients from waiting lists”.
They added: “How that software is used is entirely under the control of the NHS, with data only able to be processed in accordance with their strict instructions.”
The spokesperson said the firm also has “no intention of and no means of using the data in the way that the Medact report is suggesting”, adding that “to do so would be illegal and in breach of contract”.
This includes claiming that it is “a matter of company policy” not to support predictive policing applications, that it’s work with ICE is long-standing and dates back to the Obama administration, and that there are “comprehensive” data processing safeguards and controls in place for the FDP.
“Palantir engineers are only able to access NHS data under the direction of the data controllers. This only takes place for appropriate engineering activities like data pipeline deployment and product support tasks,” the company said.
“The technology includes granular access controls and full auditability, ensuring that individuals within the institutions we serve can access only the information necessary to perform their roles. It also provides a clear, traceable record of who accessed specific data, when they accessed it, and for what purpose.”
Palantir added that while it has not been involved in the most high-profile Israel Defense Forces (IDF) artificial intelligence (AI) targeting systems, “we are, however, very proud of the work and support we have provided to Israel following the vicious attacks of October 7th”.
For most of us, desk space is at a premium. Between the computer, keyboard, speakers, and maybe a few photos of your family or a mesh Wi-Fi node, things can quickly feel a little cramped. Desk-mounted accessories make your workspace look and feel better. Mounted office accessories are perfect for standing desks because everything stays firmly in place when you lift and lower your position. Even if you stay seated, these devices can clear some of the clutter off your desktop—and maybe clear your mind a bit by giving yourself some space to focus. As a dedicated clamper, closing in on three decades at a desk, I’ve tried every desk-mounted accessory I could get my hands on. I have a few favorite devices which I’ll share below.
Before you buy any desk-mounted accessory, make sure that you measure your desk and scope out a suitable spot for the clamp. Don’t assume it will fit, since they all have a thickness range, and some desks don’t play nicely with clamps. There’s also a risk that the clamp will discolor or mark your desktop over time, especially if it’s softwood or in direct sunlight.
Monitor Arms
Number one on my list of desk-mounted accessories is monitor arms. With no need for a stand, you can free up a lot of space, and monitor arms enable you to fix your screen at the ideal height and position, making it easy to adjust the angle should you need to. I’m a fan of the dual-monitor setup with a wide-screen in landscape orientation and a portrait monitor on the left because it’s perfect for my workflow.
Ergotron
LX Pro Monitor Arm
I like Ergotron’s monitor mounts because they are seriously sturdy, yet allow for a wide range of movement to get your screen into the sweet spot (the top of the screen should be at eye level and your monitor should be roughly at arm’s length). I use the LX Pro alongside the older Ergotron LX ($189), which has a wider base and can handle more weight. What I like best, compared to other monitor arms I’ve tried, is that my monitors stay properly still once positioned. With some arms, the slightest bump on your desk has your screen vibrating.
Pet Perch
While a dog might be content to curl up at your feet, cats like to be up high. My cats are always jumping on my desk, walking in front of the monitor, and scratching the back of my chair. They also love nothing more than to steal my warm seat when I get up for a coffee. But there is a clamping solution to the pet problem.
Your calendars is the default page Calendar 2 shows you, but it’s not all this device can do. There are several tabs you can click through: Lists, Tasks, Rewards, Meals, Recipes, and Photos, then Sleep and Settings. Besides Sleep and Settings, which both relate to different settings on your device, these pages will take some work to become truly useful. Some of these features are also blocked by a paywall. You’ll need a Plus Plan subscription, which costs $79 a year or $8 a month, to get access to Rewards, Meals, and Skylight’s in-app AI tool, Sidekick.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Meals is easy to start casually using to plan out your meals for the week, but if you have a bunch of homemade recipes you love, you can manually add them to the Recipes tab. Why bother with adding an entire recipe? Because then, when you add that recipe to your meal list for the week, the Skylight will ask if it should also add the ingredients to your grocery list over on the Lists tab. I didn’t love that every time I added one of my recipes manually it would ask if I wanted to add the ingredients to my shopping list, but it’s a reasonable flow of actions and one that could be more useful if I converted to Skylight being my sole grocery shopping list.
I really like the visual aspect of both my family’s calendar and the Meals page. I quickly typed in “Giant Meatball” for one of our dinners to represent a Costco dinner in our fridge and was able to assign it to Friday’s dinner. You can either add items to your meal plan on Calendar 2 itself or in the Skylight app, which provides access to all the same pages you see on the device. The Calendar 2 doesn’t seem to memorize any quick meals I write in, though; I’d have to save them to Recipes to use continually or mark them as a repeating meal on a specific day. I also love that if there’s an event on both my husband’s calendar and mine, the Skylight will only have it on the screen once and will put both colors for our calendars to indicate it’s a shared event.
The Tasks page also works fine if you want a list of tasks for each family member, but even for tasks I set a certain time for, I didn’t see any alerts on the device or my phone. Once I opened the Tasks page, I could see that I was two days late to “Bring Form to Dentist Appointment,” but I think these pages would be easy to ignore. It’s something you’d have to build as a habit and shouldn’t be relied on for a timed task you’d like to complete. Meanwhile, Rewards is linked to tasks, letting you set how many stars you need to earn by completing tasks to earn a reward you’ll set for yourself or other members of your house, such as your kids.
The Paywalled Garden
Photograph: Nena Farrell
My biggest complaint with Skylight is its paywall. Its calendar devices require the Plus Plan ($79 a month or $8 a year) to use all features, including the photo screen saver, which I think is a huge bonus for the device. While Skylight isn’t my favorite digital photo frame, and the 15-inch frame doesn’t have the perfect orientation for showing photos, having the screen saver option turns the device into a great multiuse screen that the entire family can enjoy.
Tax Day is April 15 this year, meaning you have less than a month to file without penalty or needing to file for an extension. The cost of filing with a tax service increases the longer you wait, and if you’re anything like me—and have complicated taxes—you’ve procrastinated. Take this as your sign to file now. TurboTax currently has a deal running for federal and state filing combined for only $150 for Expert Full Service for new customers, but this deal is only good through March 18.
TurboTax has three tiers of services for filers: DIY, where you file yourself with step-by-step instructions; Expert Assist, where you can get help from tax experts throughout the process and have the expert review it before submitting; and Expert Full Service, where you can get your taxes done completely by a local tax expert. Prices vary for each tier, but Expert Full Service is not inexpensive—federal starts at $89 to $129, and the final price varies based on the complexity of your taxes. Plus, state taxes are an additional fee of $59 per state, so if you have a lot of forms and/or states, this flat fee deal could translate to significant savings.
On that note, if you’re a small business owner or have a complicated tax situation, Expert Full Service is probably worth a look. Having an expert file for you is best for those with S Corporations and partnerships; TurboTax will even match you with a small-business tax expert who knows your industry to maximize your deductions. With this service, you can choose to hand off your taxes online or in person. The tax expert will then handle everything about your taxes, sign, and file for you. Plus, you’ll only need to pay the $150 after your taxes are filed.
This offer only applies if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. If not, the final price varies based on the complexity of your taxes and forms, and state is charged separately.
To get this deal, start filing with TurboTax Expert Full Service or select “prefer to hand off to an expert” when prompted. If you’re eligible (meaning you didn’t have a TurboTax expert file taxes for a 2024 personal tax return), your discount will be applied at checkout when you file by 11:59 pm ET March 18.
File Your Taxes at TurboTax
Still not sure which service is best for you? Check out my guide to How to Pay Your Taxes Online, and my guide to the Best Tax Services this year. If you want to go with TurboTax but aren’t sure which tier is the best for your tax situation, I tested TurboTax’s DIY service and have found a bunch of TurboTax coupons, which may help to save coin when it’s time to file.
Entertainment1 week ago
Fashion1 week ago
Fashion6 days ago