The UK's firearms licensing records are set to be managed by Palantir, a technology firm backed by the CIA, under a new £9m contract. The decade-long agreement will see Palantir handle sensitive information, including records of guns, bombs, and poisons, across police forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The deal, which has been awarded to Palantir ahead of Accenture and NEC, is designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of firearms licensing processes. According to the Home Office, Palantir's platform will provide a centralised system for storing and managing sensitive information, aiming to reduce administrative burdens on police forces.
Critics have expressed concerns about the potential risks of having a US-based firm handling UK data, but the Home Office has assured that Palantir will be subject to the UK's data protection regulations. The contract includes strict safeguards to protect sensitive information, and a spokesperson stressed that these measures are in place to ensure the security of the data.
The £9m contract is reportedly worth an annual sum of £900,000 over the next decade. Palantir is expected to begin rolling out its platform to police forces across the UK in the coming months, with the Home Office set to oversee the implementation process.
Palantir's CEO, Alex Karp, has hailed the contract as a 'major win' for the firm, expressing his commitment to working with the UK government to improve public safety. However, some lawmakers have raised concerns about the deal, calling for greater transparency and scrutiny of the agreement.