Thread by @EinsteinsAttic

Fascinating piece by @rowlsmanthorpe on the beleaguered #nhsxCovid19app:
news.sky.com/story/coronavi…

Insiders pretty much nail the two core problems: firstly, lack of clarity on what the app was supposed to be & do, and secondly 👇

To those attuned to internal cultures, there are some amusing echoes of @ukhomeoffice: @MattHancock's "4%" tirade, reminiscent of @sajidjavid's insistence that @Apple should change iOS to suit HO's #SettledStatus scheme, and some wicked interorganisational chess 👇

The only bit that spoils the piece for me is this 👇

If you've been following its development and read the contracts & DPIA, you'll know @NHSEngland (not @NHSX) is controller of the #COVID19 #DataStore, which sits on @Microsoft @Azure.

@PalantirTech doesn't "run" anything...

..it's contracted as a data processor to provide its data integration platform, #Foundry (that has been on GCloud for years), which sits in top of an @AWS bucket filled with #pseudonymised data from the #DataStore.

@PalantirTech provides 3 dashboards but MANY others run their...

...models on/in Foundry - details of which @NHSEngland remains VERY reluctant to provide. (Indeed, it's now even hiding details of some of the datasets that are in the @Azure #DataStore.)

Top tip: get past the app and Palantir, and there's a whole wealth of stories to be had! 😉

References:

@NHSEngland's #COVID19 #DataStore
Data Protection Impact Assessment:
england.nhs.uk/publication/da… which inaccurately details @PalantirTech as SOLE data processor - especially given its @Microsoft @Azure contract:
cdn-prod.opendemocracy.net/media/document… and clear statements like this 👇

And, for completeness' sake, the @PalantirTech #GCloud11 contract:
cdn-prod.opendemocracy.net/media/document… which the eagle-eyed reader will note does not even name @NHSEngland as the buyer; contractually, that's @ardengem CSU...

Ignore the spin and history-rewriting; demand the contracts!