Maine Medical Center Nurses are demanding that Maine Health cancel its contract with Palantir Technologies, the tech company powering Immigration and Customs Enforcement surveillance.
At a press conference Friday in Portland, Nurse Andrew Gesler said he is frustrated that Maine Health has not provided more information about the contract and is also concerned about patients’ personal data.
“I don’t want my life to be run by these large corporations that are here to scare people and to threaten people. I’m here as a healer, as a nurse. That’s, you know, my mission in life, and Palantir technologies gets in the way of that,” Gesler said.
Janel Crowley is a nurse and board member with the Maine State Nurses Association.
“We’re out here today to protest the fact that Maine Health has a secret contract with Palantir, and we’ve asked for information on what they’re doing with that contract and how they’re using patient information, and they have refused to share any information with us, and we don’t like that,” Crowley said.
Both are encouraging others who share these concerns to sign a petition put out by the Maine State Nurses Association.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
