This article frames Palantir - providers of the NHSX data store - as a disruptive *defense* contractor not a Silicon Valley unicorn. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/16/21323458/palantir-ipo-hhs-protect-peter-thiel-cia-intelligence

Now why is a defense contractor working with the NHS? Something something exceptional times, but a public-health emergency isn’t actually a war, is it? Except Cummings’ fascination with military-born innovation is a known-known, eg the term “skunkworks” was invented by Lockheed.

Here’s a quote from Palantir CEO about why the additional scrutiny of going to IPO might not be worth the trouble: “you need a lot of creative, wacky people that maybe Wall Street won’t understand”. Now, what does that remind me of?

Oh yes, “weirdos and misfits” https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/dominiccummings.com/2020/01/02/two-hands-are-a-lot-were-hiring-data-scientists-project-managers-policy-experts-assorted-weirdos/amp/

Now of course, the Palantir panopticon is concerning from a privacy, surveillance and human rights perspective. But also: what is the long-game? If it’s all part of a plan to get better dashboards and make data-driven policy it seems like a high price to pay.

Where is the scrutiny, the oversight? Or will this continue to slip through because no one wants to look anti-progress?

Just a reminder of the job description for the head of the No 10 skunkworks - a “quantitative revolution” building “data worlds”. https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=dXNlcnNlYXJjaGNvbnRleHQ9MTAzMzEwMzI0JnBhZ2VjbGFzcz1Kb2JzJm93bmVyPTUwNzAwMDAmam9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0xNjc5MjI4JnBhZ2VhY3Rpb249dmlld3ZhY2J5am9ibGlzdCZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZzZWFyY2hfc2xpY2VfY3VycmVudD0xJmNzb3VyY2U9Y3Nxc2VhcmNoJnJlcXNpZz0xNTk0NDA5Mjc0LTYzZGM3ZWQyMzVkYjNmMmQ2YWMyZGM2MDRhMzQxMmU4ZmUxMTIwZjU=

Of course, at a moment when the UK’s ability to count things is under significant scrutiny, this might seem like a welcome improvement, and perhaps it is, but where are the ethics boards? Where are the teams of sociologists being spun up to generate insight?

Or, to put it more eloquently: https://twitter.com/abebab/status/1281900516835041291?s=21 https://twitter.com/abebab/status/1281900516835041291

Anyway, tl;dr, I think this is a huge risk to a functioning democracy and don’t understand why more people - particularly those who’ve been part of the #AIEthics and #dataethics communities - aren’t up in arms about it.