Google sued for unauthorised use of NHS data

[phenomlab]

Saw this in the news today, and I suspect it’s not restricted to just the UK

https://news.sky.com/story/google-sued-for-using-the-nhs-data-of-1-6-million-brits-without-their-knowledge-or-consent-12614525

The Royal Free NHS Trust in London, which gave Google the patient data, was previously told the move was illegal following an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Looks like both The NHS trust itself and Google are going to have the ICO knocking on their doors pretty soon - and not without justifiable reason either. The NHS is also in scope for HIPAA so this is going to be an interesting space to watch.

Either way, the sale of any data that does not belong to you without formal consent is a breach of GDPR in Europe. I’m guessing Google will have a way of wriggling out of this one, but the fine would be four times the annual turnover of the firm, and not the €25m advertised.

Completely off-topic, but…is it me, or does the below sound like it was taken from a Json Bourne film (In the last film, the term “IronHand” made an appearance)

The company’s artificial intelligence arm, DeepMind

https://www.bustle.com/articles/175023-what-is-iron-hand-in-jason-bourne-get-ready-to-close-all-your-social-media-accounts

And despite such a warning… Those with Facebook accounts will continue without a care in the world