North Lancashire Lib Dems call for county police to reveal dealings with Palantir

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Here's a heartening story from the Lancaster Guardian:

The North Lancashire Liberal Democrats are calling for Lancashire Police to reveal the full extent of its dealings with controversial US tech firm Palantir.

It comes after an investigation by Computer Weekly and the Good Law Project revealed the force is one of six across the country testing Palantir’s AI tools in contracts worth a total of £7.8m.

Reportedly, no minutes were kept from Lancashire Police meetings about the procurement of Palantir AI tools.

The newspaper reports comments by Rowan Fitton, a Lib Dem campaigner from Morecambe, who has written to the county's police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw, demanding answers over the procurement process:

"In the UK, our right to privacy is sacred and we won’t stand idly by whilst a shady American tech firm could be harvesting our data and making millions in the process. 

"Lancashire Police need to be crystal clear about why Palantir was chosen as a supplier, given the growing number of concerns around privacy and effectiveness. 

"The public also has a right to know what their data may be used for, where it’s being taken from, and why it’s being shared.” "

Alarm bells, says the Lancaster Guardian, were set off when it was reported that no minutes were taken at Lancashire Police meetings about a potential partnership with Palantir.

North Lancashire Lib Dems say this leaves questions around why the decision to work with Palantir was made and whether Lancashire Police is being honest with the public.