UK MPs Urge Government to Halt Palantir's Access to Sensitive FCA Data

UK MPs have called on the government to halt a contract with Palantir, a US-based spy-tech company, after it was revealed that the firm will gain access to a vast trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the watchdog overseeing thousands of financial bodies, has hired Palantir to apply its AI systems to two years' worth of internal intelligence data to help tackle financial crime.

However, the Liberal Democrats and Green party have raised concerns over Palantir's ties to Donald Trump and the potential risks to national and economic security. The Liberal Democrats have called for a government investigation into the contract, citing concerns that it could be "a huge error of judgment".

Palantir, founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire supporter of Trump, has built up over £500m in contracts in the UK, including with the NHS, police, and Ministry of Defence. The company supports the US and Israeli militaries and the ICE immigration crackdown.

Insiders at the FCA have questioned whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent the data from being exploited. There are concerns about the potential for data about sensitive FCA investigations into high-profile figures to be accessed during Palantir's work.

The FCA has insisted that Palantir will be a "data processor", not a "data controller", meaning it can only act on instruction from the regulator. The FCA will retain exclusive control over the encryption keys for the most sensitive files, and the data will be hosted and stored solely in the UK.

Despite these assurances, MPs have expressed concerns over the risks associated with the contract. Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesperson, called for an investigation into the FCA's Palantir contract, citing concerns over Palantir's ties to Trump.

The Green party MP Siân Berry has called for the government to "step in immediately and protect our national and economic security by blocking this contract award".

Palantir has denied claims that it may "use customer data for our own purposes", stating that this is "something that we have no business interest in, and that we are legally and contractually prevented from doing".