Google and NHS records

[armb]

On the whole, I think Google mean their "don't be evil" slogan. But handing over management of health records to them? WTF? (As for "or Microsoft"...)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/06/tory_nhs_googlization/

Comments

[uk-sef.livejournal.com]

I saw that today too and thought that M$ had to be a serious contender for stupidest possible choice ever, with Google hardly counting as better (given its form for lack of privacy etc).

[(Anonymous)]

I think Google will do a better job of keeping our records private than the NHS. The public sector have a pretty bad track record in this country. Let's just hope they don't courier the records to Google unencrypted!

I'm quite an advocate of privacy. However, I do believe that Google will give me much greater access to my records than I do already. I trust Google to give me extraordinary ability to mine my data and analyse it in new ways that could potentially improve my health in future or even save my life. In this instance, I think giving a way a little bit of privacy for more security is worthwhile.

I would also happily allow Google to use my medical records to analyse data patterns in a non-identifiable matter. I believe that the possibilities are there for our data to be used to identify ways of increasing the health of everyone.