2 extremely alarming stories about NHS health data this am. Leaked docs last week showed NHS data key part of US trade deal. @tobyhelm reveals anonymised NHS data has *already* been sold to US drugs companies. There is *no such thing* as anonymised data
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
And then this. Revealed under FOI: Matt Hancock gave entire contents of publicly funded NHS website to Amazon to do whatever it wants with it. Both stories frankly unbelievable. If this is happening *before* a new US trade deal, what on earth lies ahead?
thetimes.co.uk/article/amazon…
thetimes.co.uk/article/amazon…
Nobody wants our cancer wards. But our NHS data is unique in world. An entire population’s health records from cradle to grave is absolutely priceless. A big data wet dream for US companies. And a dystopian nightmare for us as individuals. This is what is being ‘traded’: us.
Our most intimate personal data is literally up for sale. That’s what this ‘trade deal’ is. @tobyhelm’s story shows that it already has been sold. Who to?? How’s it being used? You can *always* re-identify anonymised data. The consequences of this are mind-boggling & terrifying 
About a decade ago, I got my genome sequenced for an article. And it was when I began to realise implications for us as individuals of what this world of big data means. US drug & genomics companies were salivating at prospect of getting hands on NHS data. It was golden jackpot
When I learned my data was stored in Amazon cloud I began to think about what that meant. I’d gone undercover in an Amazon warehouse. The idea of an aggressive US hyper capitalist having my data made me pause. Today’s stories bring both these elements into sharp focus.
