NHS opt out of your personal data being sold to commercial institution

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

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I'm seeing conflicting info on this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10647031/NHS-medical-records-database-halted-amid-concerns.html

Of course I will opt out as I don't want my data sold, and possibly miss used.

However on the opt out form it states that:

NHS healthcare staff caring for you
may not be aware of your current
medications, allergies you suffer from
and any bad reactions to medicines
you have had, in order to treat you
safely in an emergency.

Here: http://www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/optout/optout.pdf

Anyone know more about this and what it means, my colleague just told me about it and I cant say I like the Idea.
 
Out of interest, what are you scared of?

The data sold is to be stripped of identification before being released

From the NHS website;
Your date of birth, full postcode, NHS Number and gender rather than your name will be used to link your records in a secure system, managed by the HSCIC. Once this information has been linked, a new record will be created. This new record will not contain information that identifies you. The type of information shared, and how it is shared, is controlled by law and strict confidentiality rules.
Click to expand...

Edit:
The NHS page;
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx
 
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But there's "plenty of precedence"

It should be easy

And your original post had nothing to do with leaks. Any examples of these schemes being "spun out commercially"?

It's all just soundbites and doom mongering
 
cheesyboy said:
But there's "plenty of precedence"

It should be easy

And your original post had nothing to do with leaks. Any examples of these schemes being "spun out commercially"?

It's all just soundbites and doom mongering
Click to expand...

It is easy. Type 'government data leak' into google. I'm not going to waste time finding you well documented examples of the government leaking data just because you're ill informed. I've got better things to do.

Since you're clearly not capable of a simple task I've done the first one for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_government_data_losses.
 
If there was a leaking of data, what do you propose will happen?

Banks, Insurance and Pension funds could in theory (stay with me here) get a hold of it. What will they be able to do with that data? Keep in mind they will have to prove their formula for quotations and policy's, so illegally acquired data will be out.
 
cheesyboy said:
Out of interest, what are you scared of?

The data sold is to be stripped of identification before being released

From the NHS website;


Edit:
The NHS page;
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx
Click to expand...

Just because your name and address is stripped out doesn't make it anonymous. There's a whole world dedicated to building profiles based on user habits and information.
I think the NHS needs to move to a centralized data storage model, but I don't think the NHS can be trusted with something like that. It's not cheap to do it properly and they won't pay to move away from XP and some crusty old version of IE yet.... (I forget which one)
 
I would highly recommend not opting out of this scheme.

platypus said:
It is easy. Type 'government data leak' into google. I'm not going to waste time finding you well documented examples of the government leaking data just because you're ill informed. I've got better things to do.

Since you're clearly not capable of a simple task I've done the first one for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_government_data_losses.
Click to expand...

If the NHS are going to leak data they will do so regardless, this scheme anonymises records which means if it is leaked then you are fairly well protected.

The reason this scheme is so important is that it lets Pharma and research institutions access to a lot of data which they can analyse for new potential treatments and statistical correlations. This could really help research in all areas of heath, and could end up directly benefitting you. The wider the picture, the better the dataset and the more likely we are to cure other illnesses.
 
abbotsmike said:
I think the NHS needs to move to a centralized data storage model, but I don't think the NHS can be trusted with something like that. It's not cheap to do it properly and they won't pay to move away from XP and some crusty old version of IE yet.... (I forget which one)
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that the NHS, like lots of other organisations, will be rolling out new OS's for their PC's now that MS have stopped support for XP. It's a big problem for them because such an upgrade would often require hardware upgrades too. The NHS is a bit like the Titanic, any change in course takes time.
 
Forget an EU referendum, give us a vote between

'Personal data made available for the protection of the patient'

and

'Personal data made available for the protection of the patient
Personal data sold to third parties for profit'

Nobody would give a rats backside about the first, but the corrupt little weasels just had to bolt on that second bit didn't they.

Viva la Revolution.
 
cheesyboy said:
Out of interest, what are you scared of?

The data sold is to be stripped of identification before being released

From the NHS website;


Edit:
The NHS page;
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx
Click to expand...

Afaik, they record your age and postcode. There are 10 people living in my post code, and I am the only one my age. Its hardly rocket science.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs...uments/Care.data patient FAQs V4 24022014.pdf
The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects information from a range of places such as your GP practice, hospitals and community services. This information includes postcodes and dates of birth so that the information about an individual can be joined together accurately.
Click to expand...

So a log of your age and postcode. Combine that with the electoral register. BOOOM fully identifiable personal information.

Identifiable information: information that identifies you can only be disclosed where you have given your explicit consent (such as where you have agreed to participate in a research study) or there is a legal basis for doing so (please see question 22).
Click to expand...
Note the guidelines fully admit themselves the information can be identifiable, which negates your point.
1) That the research is in the public interest and for the benefit of the health service;
2) That it is not possible to use information that does not identify you; and
3) It is not possible to ask your permission. There are a variety of reasons why it might not be possible to ask people; for example, where there are extremely large numbers of patients.
Click to expand...

So if some pen pushing twonk thinks its 'in the public interest' and its 'oh so very difficult to ask your permission' they will use your identifiable information for some unknown purpose. Combine that with the Overton Window and you have yourself a right mess.
 
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cheesyboy said:
Out of interest, what are you scared of?
Click to expand...

I'm not scared of anything myself, it's the principle of the thing.

A bunch of tory *******s wanting to turn a quick buck selling my data to third parties.

My motto with Tories is like that of zombies, don't trust em and destroy the head or neck before it can vomit it's disgusting cancer all over you.
 
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