While the U.K.’s National Risk Register — meant to flag issues of concern to Whitehall — recognizes the risk from cyberattacks and outages of critical technologies, the signatories warn that it “does not address risks related to service discontinuation, interference, or attacks that may result from foreign states using legal powers to compel service providers and manufacturers,” despite such risks appearing to meet the threshold for inclusion.
The letter, signed by Green Party MP Sian Berry, Liberal Democrat MP Victoria Collins, Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake and Labour MP Clive Lewis, states that while other European countries have held an “open discussions and analysis” of the risks and begun to take steps to cut their reliance on U.S. providers, the U.K. has failed to disclose the risks of its approach or set out a “digital sovereignty” strategy.
“In contrast, the UK is contracting Palantir to deliver core components of the Ministry of Defence’s data systems,” the letter states.
Cross-party MPs, including signatories of the letter, previously slammed the government’s decision to award the controversial U.S. tech firm a £240 million contract earlier this year and have urged it to review a separate £330 million contract with the NHS over privacy and dependency fears.
Clamoring for clarity
U.K. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall is due to make a speech “on the future of artificial intelligence, tech sovereignty and Britain’s place in the world” next week.
Ahead of that, Berry said she and fellow signatories were “sounding the alarm” over “glaring risks to our citizens from the choices made for our critical digital infrastructure.”