Reply to post: What kind of moronic thinking is that?

Google AI gains access to 1.2m confidential NHS patient records

heyrick Silver badge

What kind of moronic thinking is that?

There once was a thing called doctor patient privilege.

There once was a thing called ethics.

There once was an expectation that if you needed to go to hospital, the full details of why wouldn't be spewed to the highest bidder.

It isn't about whether or not people trust Google, it's about a fundamental breach of trust by the medical profession itself. They "claim" that the details are anonymous yet the agreement would appear to say otherwise. Well, if this behaviour passes without any hindrance or jail time, how long before data is provided to other paying companies...like, oh I don't know, selling the results of routine blood tests to insurers? Such a thing is only a small mission creep away. And you'd be surprised what a blood test can reveal...

The point here is the breach of trust and that the patients involved were never given a choice (probably because they knew any sane person would say NO). So, yes, jail time please. Because if a serious punitive penalty isn't handed down, it would be a de facto sanction of this sort of behaviour. Are you happy with what that might imply?

To clarify, this isn't about what the data in question is, or even who it is being shared with, it's about the manner in which it was shared. If this isn't slapped down, well, what headlines will we be reading here in the future?

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