Everything we know about HHS Protect, a secretive government project with Peter Thiel's Palantir that helps brief Trump's coronavirus task force



A secretive project at the US Department of Health and Human Services is working with technology companies to collect and analyze data related to the novel coronavirus . 
Dubbed "HHS Protect," the effort tracks information from around the country about coronavirus case numbers, hospital capacity, and even supply chain issues. 
HHS uses Palantir Technologies , a data firm cofounded by Peter Thiel, to distill that information for the White House coronavirus task force.

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A secretive project at the US Department of Health and Human Services is working with technology companies to collect and analyze data related to the novel coronavirus. 
Dubbed "HHS Protect," the effort includes roughly 2.5 billion pieces of data from healthcare providers, government officials, and labs around the country about coronavirus case numbers, hospital capacity, and even supply chain issues. 
The goal is learn about the progression of outbreaks and, with the help of data-analysis firm Palantir Technologies, distill that information for the White House coronavirus task force and other officials, a spokesperson for HHS told Business Insider in a statement.
But a few issues have plagued Protect from the onset. It took until April 10 to get up and running, as regulators worked to compile messy reports from hospitals that lacked both guidance on how to format them and sometimes digital infrastructures to collect the information in the first place, according to administrators and consultants interviewed by Business Insider.
Palantir's role in the project is intimate, as it was contracted to help develop Protect, the Daily Beast reported .
Palantir did not respond to a request for comment on the project.
Protect is planning to work with medical record companies 
The federal government isn't collecting personal information currently via Protect, but plans to. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will share patient data with the HHS platform, and efforts are underway to collect it from private companies as well, a spokesperson told Business Insider.
HHS said it's currently working on more than 15 data use agreements with private firms that could cover a range of issues, including patient information and security protocols, allowing officials to collect more data.
HHS said Protect was built to meet security standards that allow it to collect and share personal information, including health data.
HHS declined to name all the companies involved in Protect or explain their individual roles. But the spokesperson said that the list of contributors — including local governments, academic institutions, and the private sector — is broad.
"Private sector companies are partnering with HHS and providing data on a voluntary basis to help us get a better understanding of the common operating...

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