Recommendation 27

Of the small number of technology providers that the UK public sector relies upon, Palantir concerns us most. In the United States it has supplied software for that country’s military and immigration services, supporting highly controversial policies and activities. Its co-founder has criticised the concept of a national health service and the company has issued a manifesto that makes explicitly political arguments, undermining what the head of their UK and European business told us. In the UK Palantir has increased its presence across the public sector despite this clear mismatch with UK values. We, however, are of the view that Palantir should not have such a significant role in the UK public sector, and that it is far from the only company capable of providing the data analysis ‘middleware’ required by public bodies. (Conclusion, Paragraph 93)