UK MPs question Palantir contracts over Swiss security assessment
A year-long Swiss investigation reported that Palantir, a US data analytics and AI company, sought contracts with Swiss government agencies for over seven years but was rejected at least nine times. The investigation cited an internal Swiss army expert report assessing potential security risks from Palantir's US ownership and possible government data access, prompting UK MPs to question the government's contracts with the company.
What happened
A year-long investigation by the Zurich-based research collective WAV and Swiss magazine Republik, based on freedom of information requests, detailed Palantir's seven-year effort to sell products to Swiss federal agencies and its rejection by at least nine different agencies.
The investigation cited an internal Swiss army expert report assessing that Palantir's status as a US company created a possibility that sensitive data shared with it could be accessed by the US government and intelligence services.
Reported impact
UK MPs raised concerns over the government's contracts with Palantir following the Swiss investigation. Labour MP Clive Lewis stated Palantir 'is an organisation that the British government, in terms of the NHS, in terms of contracts, should stay very far away from'.
York Central MP Rachael Maskell called for the government to 'undertake transparent due diligence' on Palantir's conduct, citing questions about ethical choices regarding weaponry and other concerns.
Index analysis
Palantir provides software to integrate and analyse data across different systems, including in the health service, and also provides artificial intelligence-enabled military targeting systems.
Governance controls
Palantir responded to the investigation by stating: 'We run a business that is predicated on the trust of our customers, which means we also do everything possible – from contractual, procedural, to technical controls – to ensure that our customers are in full control of their data, their operations and their decisions when using Palantir software.' The company rejected claims from the Swiss army report about potential access to sensitive data.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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