Privacy groups slam government NHS data sharing proposals

Privacy groups have crticised proposals outlined by David Cameron to allow patient data held by the NHS to be shared with private organisations, claiming that the move puts the privacy of UK citizens at risk and favours big business.

Outlining the plans in a speech on Monday, Cameron dismissed the idea that such a system will affect people's privacy, and argued instead that it will create innovations in medical science for the good of the population.

"From this month huge amounts of new data are going to be released online. This is the real-world evidence that scientists have been crying out for and we are determined to deliver it," he said.

"Let me be clear: this does not threaten privacy, it does not mean anyone can look at your health records. But it does mean using anonymous data to make new medical breakthroughs."

However, Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said that Cameron's comments show that the privacy of UK citizens is being ignored at the expense of potential business benefits.

"These proposals do little to address privacy concerns, focusing on potential benefits instead of very real civil liberties questions," he said in a blog post.

"The data protection regime in Britain requires urgent strengthening before anything resembling this kind of policy should be considered. Until then, the government should explain why it wants to share our data and the evidential basis for doing so."

Meanwhile, Roger Goss, co-founder of patients' advocacy group Patient Concern,  maintained that the proposals herald the "death of patient confidentiality".

"There is no guarantee that information will be anonymised. In any case, anonymised data can just as easily be re-identified," he said.

"We understand GP surgeries will have the right to refuse to release their patients' records. But whether patients will ever be told what is happening, let alone have the choice to protect their privacy, is still unclear."

Patient Concern co-founder Joyce Robins added that, while the aims of the project are "laudable", the government's poor track record on data handling is cause for concern.

"The methods of doing this are not at all acceptable [and] the Department of Health has a pretty lousy record of protecting our information," she said.

Meanwhile, Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock argued that the government has moved too fast on the policy and got things wrong.

"You can't share people's information without their permission, and you can't anonymise data with any real degree of safety," he told V3.

"I hope the public reaction has caused enough of a shock to make Mr Cameron make sure there is a rethink."

Numerous NHS authorities have repeatedly lost data on citizens, prompting the Information Commissioner's Office to criticise the organisation for failing to take its data protection obligations seriously.