Palantir’s Consolidation Of CDC Disease Data Reportedly Raises Privacy Concerns

The New York Times (6/6, Mandavilli) reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent announcement that it “plans to consolidate data on diseases like measles and polio are raising concerns about patient privacy, delays in spotting long-term trends and ways the Trump administration may use the information.” The CDC informed “state officials earlier this week that it would shift disease information” to a new system, Foundry, that’s managed by data analysis and technology firm Palantir. Foundry’s expansion across the federal government in recent months, “allowing it to compile detailed information about Americans, has introduced a new layer of anxiety and mistrust among state and local officials about sharing data with the C.D.C.” Some officials now “worry that a sprawling data collection system could expose or endanger people with sensitive health needs, like gender care, reproductive health care or disabilities. Some labor and other advocacy groups have tried to block the Trump administration from sharing data across agencies.”