
An alarming new report indicates that Google's DeepMind may have done something it definitely should not have done.
All eyes are on Google after a British data protection watchdog said that a hospital trust in the UK may have participated improperly in a patient data sharing trial with Google. The Royal Free NHS Trust didn’t comply with the Data Protection Act when it sent 1.6 million patients’ personal information to Google’s DeepMind system.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement that while there is huge potential in using that data for improvements in patient care, it shouldn’t have to come at the cost of privacy rights. The data was shared during a medical trial that involved integrating information from existing systems to alert clinicians when there was a sign that the condition of a patient with Acute Kidney Injury had deteriorated.
Unfortunately, an investigation found that many of the patients didn’t know there data was being used. The trust has responded to this report by signing a document that states they will change the way it handles data.
The people behind Google’s DeepMind admitted that it underestimated just how complex the National Health Service is in the UK and how strict the rules are when it comes to patient data.
Leave a Reply