The UK government’s new contract with Palantir should ring alarm bells the size of Big Ben.
The UK government has awarded a post-Brexit border control contract to Palantir, the American tech firm known for its links to Trump and the recent US deportations scandal.
Whilst the attraction of Palantir is obvious – they have far greater data analytics capabilities than the government could ever establish itself and can get to work almost immediately – this reeks of hasty, unchecked outsourcing and, frankly, a disaster waiting to happen. For a government that’s constantly playing catch up on all things Brexit & Coronavirus, the idea of rushing through a crucial contract like this one should ring alarm bells.
Handing over data from four government departments to a company with a far from stellar track record seems highly questionable. We doubt this is the last we’ll be hearing about this specific story.
#itsyourdata
