“Control of patient information” notices currently allow for access, and data-wrangling rights, to health records in connection with fighting Covid-19. Allowing access to NHS data has led to some groundbreaking research, notably helping to identify dexamethasone as an effective Covid therapy. NHS Digital says that “we do not allow data to be used solely for commercial purposes”. There is no doubt about the power of AI to extract value by linking and reusing health data. It should ring alarm bells that ministers propose extracting sensitive personal medical records without clear purpose and with no meaningful information governance measures to keep pace with these developments.

Source: The Guardian May 30, 2021 17:15 UTC