Benzinga | Jun 4, 2021 04:05PM EDT

Activists Launch Campaign Against Palantir's NHS Collaboration: CNBC

* A self-touted tech-justice non-profit, Foxglove, has launched the "No Palantir in Our NHS" campaign to oppose data analytics company Palantir Technologies Inc's (NYSE:PLTR) collaboration with U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS), CNBC reports.

* The campaign was backed by over 50 other organizations working on civil liberties, anti-racism, migrant justice, and public health.

* Palantir's partnership with the NHS was aimed to help the government and health services use data to monitor the pandemic spread.

* The NHS COVID-19 Data Store contract allowed Palantir to help manage the data lake that contained everybody's health data for pandemic purposes.

* During Mar. 2020, the contract was sold as a short-term effort to predict how best to deploy resources to deal with the pandemic. However, the contract was quietly extended in Dec. when the NHS and Palantir inked a ?23 million ($34 million) two-year deal.

* Palantir is processing the patient data while the NHS remains the data owner, limiting Palantir's activities.

* Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) board member and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel reportedly donated $1.25 million for Donald Trump's Presidential campaign.

* Palantir had also faced flak for supporting spy agencies, border forces, and militaries. It has been linked with tracking down undocumented Americans to the development of unmanned drones for bombings and intelligence.

* Palantir has been trying to grow its European business in recent years and has a significant presence in London's Soho neighborhood.

* The company failed to win any contract by lobbying the U.K. Department of Trade and health officials in 2019.

* The Financial Times reported Palantir's recent acquisition of a stake in British health firm Babylon as part of a $4.2 billion blank-check deal.

* Price action: PLTR shares closed higher by 1.69% at $24.03 on Friday.