Read on Twitter
1. Hours before recess, PM quietly announced that Downing St had taken control of the govt’s use of data.
Trump did EXACT same thing in the US last week.
This is not a coincidence!
It is part of a single, coordinated US-UK strategy. #Palantir #COVID
https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1285187606519717888?s=21 https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1285187606519717888
Trump did EXACT same thing in the US last week.
This is not a coincidence!
It is part of a single, coordinated US-UK strategy. #Palantir #COVID
https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1285187606519717888?s=21 https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1285187606519717888
2. Now I know this may sound counter intuitive, but I ask you read to the end of the thread & ideally the thread embedded above
I don't pretend to have a single clear explanation, but I believe I have part of it.
Everything is fact-based.
Only v occasionally do I speculate.
I don't pretend to have a single clear explanation, but I believe I have part of it.
Everything is fact-based.
Only v occasionally do I speculate.
3. In May, Amnesty warned: “The shadowy data-mining firm Palantir, whose technology has powered some of the most nefarious immigration abuses, is now collecting troves of health data about all of us.”
Palantir is running US & UK govt's #COVID platforms. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/21/why-are-we-trusting-company-with-ties-ice-intelligence-agencies-collect-our-health-information/
Palantir is running US & UK govt's #COVID platforms. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/21/why-are-we-trusting-company-with-ties-ice-intelligence-agencies-collect-our-health-information/
4. #Palantir, run by right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, won a $7.5m contract to build the #COVID digital platform for US Health Dept (HHS) in April.
They won a similar contract in the UK for the NHS in April. This contract has just been extended for £1m.
They won a similar contract in the UK for the NHS in April. This contract has just been extended for £1m.
5. On 8 July, Boris Johnson announced that SAGE had been sidelined & in favour of the secretive Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) which has taken over UK's #coronavirus response.
It is led by Clare Gardiner, a cybersecurity expert seconded from govt's GCHQ. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53325081
It is led by Clare Gardiner, a cybersecurity expert seconded from govt's GCHQ. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53325081
6. Six days later, on 14 July, the Trump admin ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC & send all #coronavirus data to a Washington database run by the company, Teletracking, & to "HHS Protect", run by #Palantir
@nytimes said it had alarmed health officials. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1283119890484867076
@nytimes said it had alarmed health officials. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1283119890484867076
7/. Whilst journalists & politicians in the US are starting to ask questions about Palantir’s role, this isn’t happening in UK.
30 members of Congress, including @ewarren & @JulianCastro, just called for greater transparency on how Palantir will use data.
https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/1286006397772222466?s=21 https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/1286006397772222466
30 members of Congress, including @ewarren & @JulianCastro, just called for greater transparency on how Palantir will use data.
https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/1286006397772222466?s=21 https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/1286006397772222466
8/. Information about these Palantir contracts was not disclosed by the US & UK govts without a fight.
In the US, @nytimes had to sue the @CDCgov under the Freedom of Information Act & in UK govt only revealed contract details on the eve of a lawsuit brought by @openDemocracyUK.
In the US, @nytimes had to sue the @CDCgov under the Freedom of Information Act & in UK govt only revealed contract details on the eve of a lawsuit brought by @openDemocracyUK.
9/. In the weeks since the HHS took over from the CDC, much of US’s #COVID19 data has become inaccessible.
Similarly, the UK govt stopped sharing data on testing in mid-May.
Asked why, ministers seem unwilling or unable to offer an intelligible reason.
Similarly, the UK govt stopped sharing data on testing in mid-May.
Asked why, ministers seem unwilling or unable to offer an intelligible reason.
10/. Palantir was awarded the NHS & HHS coronavirus contracts without a competitive tender.
The UK govt say #Palantir & #FacultyAI (the British company working on the digital platform with them) “did not need to bid” because of pre-existing NHS contracts. https://bylinetimes.com/2020/04/22/palantir-coronavirus-contract-did-not-go-to-competitive-tender/
The UK govt say #Palantir & #FacultyAI (the British company working on the digital platform with them) “did not need to bid” because of pre-existing NHS contracts. https://bylinetimes.com/2020/04/22/palantir-coronavirus-contract-did-not-go-to-competitive-tender/
11/. The pre-existing £250m NHS contract to build an AI Lab, had been signed with #FacultyAI in August 2019, but was only publicly announced on 13 March.
#FacultyAI was set up by Ben & Marc Warner.
They worked on Conservative election & Leave campaigns.
#FacultyAI was set up by Ben & Marc Warner.
They worked on Conservative election & Leave campaigns.
12/. It was reported that a £400K contract awarded directly to Faculty allows them to analyse social media data, utility bills & credit rating scores. Details are unknown b/c the published contract was partly redacted.
Ben Warner joined No.10 in 2019. He sat in 13 SAGE meetings.
Ben Warner joined No.10 in 2019. He sat in 13 SAGE meetings.
13/ The contract with #Palantir & #FacultyAI to build a "Covid Data Store" for the NHSX - the NHS's digital unit - permits processing data including:
racial origin
political affiliations
religious/other beliefs
criminal records
mental health info
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Emergency-Powers-and-Civil-Liberties-Report-Big-Brother-Watch-June-2020.pdf
racial originpolitical affiliationsreligious/other beliefscriminal recordsmental health infohttps://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Emergency-Powers-and-Civil-Liberties-Report-Big-Brother-Watch-June-2020.pdf
14/. Since taking #coronavirus data-collection responsibilities away from the CDC & giving them to the HHS, it seems that data on #COVID19 hospitalisations has become “unstable” with some states posting that their figures are “incomplete”. #Palantir #COVID https://twitter.com/covid19tracking/status/1287878486145695744?s=21 https://twitter.com/COVID19Tracking/status/1287878486145695744
15/. More evidence that since the #Trump admin stripped responsibility of #COVID19 data from the CDC & gave the responsibility to the HHS who gave it to #Palantir, a lot of data is now unavailable.
In the UK, data goes to Palantir & Faculty via the new Joint Biosecurity Centre.
In the UK, data goes to Palantir & Faculty via the new Joint Biosecurity Centre.
16/. "I don't know, & I've asked lots of people to tell me, what organisations the #JointBiosecurityCentre is joint between.
It is in the shadows - shadowed from citizen's knowledge of it & we have no idea how exactly it operates." @GabrielScally of @IndependentSage on the #JCB
It is in the shadows - shadowed from citizen's knowledge of it & we have no idea how exactly it operates." @GabrielScally of @IndependentSage on the #JCB
17). “Transparency builds confidence. Secrecy, poor information & poor communication destroys [it].
Its impossible to have when there are organisations that run the show, about which we have no knowledge, no insight & no connection."
@GabrielScally on the #JointBiosecurityCentre
Its impossible to have when there are organisations that run the show, about which we have no knowledge, no insight & no connection."
@GabrielScally on the #JointBiosecurityCentre