Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are using the services of data analytics giant Palantir as part of a federal project to amass a huge data set of health information from consenting Americans.

The goal of the project, funded by the National Institutes of Health and dubbed All of Us, is “to collect and study data from 1 million or more people living in the United States,” to improve health research, discoveries, and ultimately patient outcomes. It seeks to “build a comprehensive dataset for each individual’s life-course,” according to a slide deck about the program obtained by The News & Observer through a public records request.

As of now, All of Us has nearly 750,000 participants who have consented to share their health data. That includes genetic information, surveys, physical measurements, wearable devices, biological samples and electronic health records. The latest data release provided to “major researchers” in June 2026 “includes more than 535,000 whole genome sequences,” the NIH says, amounting to “a combination of genomic depth and clinical breadth unmatched by any research program in the world.”

Since 2024, UNC-Chapel Hill has led one part of the All of Us project called the Center for Linkage and Acquisition of Data, or CLAD. Researcher Melissa Haendel brought the project — and the NIH money — with her when she came to UNC from the University of Colorado.

“What we’re trying to do is learn how to fix the unique problems that we have in the United States because of our fragmented healthcare system,” Haendel told The News & Observer. “It’s really a huge honor for UNC to have this award because it’s unique at the NIH in terms of its rigor. We’re very proud.”

Palantir’s involvement

Palantir’s technology serves as the “digital backbone” of CLAD, the company says. The project uses Palantir’s software, and “it’s all integrated into their cloud environment,” Haendel said, like another workplace might use the Microsoft 365 suite.

Palantir is a controversial and powerful technology company known for its surveillance software used by governments to compile and analyze information about people. It does extensive work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Defense.

Records obtained by The News & Observer show close coordination between Palantir and researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill, including scheduling financial meetings and providing routine updates on personnel and other matters.

For Haendel, the partnership with Palantir is vital — and fraught with reputation issues. A recent article in the outlet Mother Jones explained why some people are opposed to Palantir’s involvement with CLAD, citing experts who expressed concern about a company like Palantir having a hand in so many important and sensitive parts of American life, like healthcare data.

“The software we’re using was originally built for the intelligence community, where they had to track everything in very fine detail with very good provenance every single thing,” Haendel said. “We have the same kind of need in a completely different field. There’s no other product on the market that does what Palantir does.

“We’ve even thought about moving off because of reputation concerns, but the reality is that we can keep the data more secure and private in Palantir than we can with any other platform.”

She compares Palantir to the mailman, whose job is to deliver mail to every single person — regardless of their values or what they’ve been involved in.

“It’s a company. Companies are going to have clients that maybe we don’t like. That doesn’t mean their products are bad,” Haendel said. “Ultimately, I just don’t want our participants or the public to mistrust the science we’re doing, because the science is on their behalf. And I really believe this program will make people’s lives better.”

Another reservation Haendel has is that Palantir’s services are “very expensive.”

All the data in CLAD is managed by UNC, not the federal government, according to Haendel. She said the program is referred to as “Iron-CLAD” because “the participants’ privacy is a top priority and technically-enforced by the CLAD system.”

“Palantir employees don’t have access to the data,” she said. “It’s like how Microsoft doesn’t have access to a Microsoft Word document you write. It’s not the security that’s the problem — because this is arguably the most secure software — it’s the owner of the system that (some see as the) problem.”

Palantir provided a statement to the N&O to explain its involvement with CLAD.

“Palantir’s software is able to integrate and analyze vast, disparate data sets, which is critical for health researchers, who can now leverage this software to drive new scientific discoveries and improve medical results,” the company said. “Palantir is not in the business of storing or collecting data. Nor does the company mine or sell data. We don’t ‘use’ data from customers for other efforts. In all cases, our customers control and retain their own data. We are simply the software that helps them make sense of it.”

Palantir’s official designation, according to the NIH, is as a “subawardee” on the project.

The research at UNC

As part of the All of Us project, researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill are tasked with creating the strategy and workflow for linking various data points. That will help scientists deduce how biology, lifestyle and environment affect health outcomes.

Haendel is also interested in how data from disparate parts of one person’s life — like information about lifestyle choices, environment, the different health providers they’ve been to, the insurance claims they’ve filed — can be linked to help clinicians and the individual themselves get a better picture of their health.

She compares it to online shopping, where a personalized algorithm tries to anticipate what you may need, want or lack, she said, suggesting products with occasionally eerie accuracy. No such system exists for clinicians using healthcare data, she says, making it more difficult for doctors to predict health conditions their patients are likely to develop.

“Before authorizing sharing these data for research, participants complete educational videos, quizzes, and written guides to ensure their understanding,” Haendel wrote in an email. “Because All of Us is a long-term study, the program maintains transparency and engagement through email, SMS, and newsletter updates on how researchers are using their data.”

The information is already “being used across the NIH ecosystem,” the NIH says.

The N&O reached out to NIH for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

In addition to Palantir, there are eight other institutions involved with CLAD, including other universities, security companies and health informatics companies. Originally, there were 10 other subawardees, but the number shrank due to budget cuts.

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