IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Say No to Palantir in the NHS

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Ethical Opposition to Palantir's Surveillance and Defense Ties

Users urge boycotting Palantir due to its US government contracts (ICE, DoD), surveillance role, and leaders' views. "Everyone should say no to palantir anywhere, especially outside the US." (anonzzzies). "Palantir is explicitly and openly fascist rather than just doing fascism on the side." (mrcartmeneses). Concerns include NHS data access via CLOUD Act and Gaza involvement.

2. Hypocrisy in Singling Out Palantir vs. Other Tech Giants

Many argue Palantir faces undue scrutiny; Google, Amazon, Microsoft also have defense deals. "You should also include Google, Microsoft, Amazon... any tech company that has a defence contract." (rvz). "Large tech companies are defense contractors now." (heavyset_go). "Whataboutism... Incrementalism is better than nothing." (exBarrelSpoiler).

3. Foundry's Practical Value for Complex Healthcare Data

Defenders praise Palantir's Foundry for NHS data integration/ontologies amid legacy systems. "Foundry has a good toolset for the job... certified with all the fedramp whatnot." (adolph). "Data integration is literally Palantir's business." (dzhiurgis). Critics note expense/lock-in, but see it solving real NHS challenges.

🚀 Project Ideas

Sovereign Health Data Foundry

Summary

  • An open-source, self-hosted data integration and analytics platform tailored for healthcare systems like the NHS, handling complex ontologies, legacy systems, patient privacy (GDPR-compliant), and operational dashboards without foreign vendor lock-in.
  • Core value: Enables governments to manage sensitive health data securely on sovereign infrastructure, avoiding US CLOUD Act risks and Palantir dependencies.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience NHS trusts, EU public health orgs, hospitals dealing with legacy data silos
Core Feature Ontology mapping, secure data pipelines, AI-assisted dashboards, zero-export privacy controls
Tech Stack Rust/Go backend, PostgreSQL/Apache Iceberg storage, React frontend, Kubernetes deployment
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Enterprise support subscriptions

Notes

  • "NHS has been struggling... lack of Technical Leadership... protects patient privacy" (karlitooo); adolph on IRB/data access pains.
  • HN would love FOSS alternative to "insanely expensive" Foundry; high utility for global health systems resisting vendor lock-in.

Defense Contract Scanner

Summary

  • A browser extension and API service that scans company websites, job postings, and investor pages to flag ties to US DoD, ICE, or defense contracts, with boycott lists and alternatives.
  • Core value: Empowers principled devs/users to avoid "Palantir, Google, Microsoft..." per rvz, promoting ethical tech stacks.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers, HN readers, procurement teams boycotting surveillance tech
Core Feature Real-time contract database search (from FPDS.gov), site crawler, ethical alternative suggestions
Tech Stack JavaScript (Chrome/Firefox ext), Node.js backend, Elasticsearch, public APIs
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Premium API for enterprises

Notes

  • "You should also include Google, Microsoft... any tech company that has a defence contract" (rvz); "Everyone should say no to palantir" (anonzzzies).
  • Sparks HN debates on ethics; practical for job hunts, vendor selection.

NHS Data Sovereignty Toolkit

Summary

  • A no-code/low-code toolkit for building custom cloud-native data platforms on UK-hosted infra, with templates for health ops (capacity planning, ontologies) and migration from Palantir-like tools.
  • Core value: "UK needs to... start innovating to take back control" (design2203), reducing foreign dependency in critical infra.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience UK gov agencies, NHS IT teams, sovereign cloud adopters
Core Feature Drag-drop pipelines, FedRAMP/GDPR templates, on-prem/UK-DC deployment wizards
Tech Stack Next.js, Apache Airflow, Trino query engine, OVHcloud/UK DC integrations
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • "Build some data centers in Scotland... setup some good cloud services" (calgoo); "in-house" over foreign vendors (bArray).
  • HN utility for GDS-like teams; fosters discussion on sovereign tech vs. big tech.

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