‘NHS’ data grab

I read it the same way as you.
I think the NHS one is to stop them sharing the data with 3rd parties and the GP one is to stop your doctor sharing your records with NHS digital (and therefore the same 3rd parties)
Like you, we have done both just to make sure.

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indeed, but also, I’d put ‘NHS’ in inverted commas. It’s about sharing them with ‘NHS digital’, which is not a part of NHS England, Scotland or Wales, and used to be called something else, until after it’s last failed data grab (care.data) it got ‘rebranded’ with the NHS name and logo to make it seem friendlier

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No I’m not

I don’t personally see a point. Your name and address is never shared and anything marked as confidential such as gender reassignment won’t be shared so it’s impossible for anyone to know who’s information is who’s.

Thanks for putting it correctly :+1:

Nope

Any company can already buy your info and have always been able too. It even tells you this on the nhs site.
Essentially details that can identify you must be removed but as soon as it’s removed anyone is able too do as they wish.

Also
There are tight rules and contracts proposed that will prevent recipients of the data doing their own work to re-identify patients – for example, by combining bits of data with information gleaned from social media. Experience tells us that it would be naïve to think rules – or even the threat of legal sanction – would prevent this activity if there were profits to be made.

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If you’d read the thread you’d see that the entire point of “pseudonymised” is that the data can be recovered and de-anonymised.

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But it can’t.
The site even proves this will never happen plus in the tiny tiny tiny chance it does you’ll be eligible for millions in compensation? I’ll rather let my info out and get money?

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The chances of that are extremely low

By googling.

You would be taken to this link National data opt-out - NHS Digital

With the form I posted in the OP and emailing it or posting it to your GP.

The national data opt out link just posted is a different thing. You can opt out of that if you want too.

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From my post above, this link explains the two opt outs (the national and type 1) and how to do it - How to opt out | medConfidential

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I respect everyone’s choice around their data. But on a factual level, it can be de-anonymised, it’s not even that difficult. Researchers have repeatedly managed to re-identify from the types of bulk data sets they will be complying.

Just on a basic level - if you are a woman with two children, your medical record is going to say that you have had two children and when they were born and their sexes. Once you know someone’s approximate location alongside the exact age of their two and only children, it isn’t that difficult to discover who they are, and once you’ve done that, you have a clear record of every conversation you’ve ever had your GP. I’m not sure which part of which website you think proves Re-ID is impossible, but it isn’t.

This is the first time our entire medical histories will be available, linkable to a single person. This is not ‘already available’, that’s inaccurate. NHS digital don’t have this data yet, that’s what this is about (it being transferred to them).

I understand you may be happy with the ‘small’ risk of your medical history being misused - that’s your choice. But, I think everyone should be given a fairer choice over whether they are or aren’t happy with that risk than they are being given.

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I shall be opting out of both

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Is anything being done to force them to publicly announce this is happening and/or an online way to opt out rather than post/email?

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Foxglove legal do a lot of this sort of campaigning/fighting in court, they’re trying to raise awareness and mount a challenge - https://twitter.com/Foxglovelegal/status/1400725847665938435

OpenDemocracy are on board too, and a few other orgs by the looks of it.

David Davis seems to be one of the bigger MPs they have on side.

Corbyn has obviously voiced support, but I suppose that’s not that relevant to the mainstream these days.

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This consent is requested when you register with a GP, I opted out when I changed a couple of years ago; it’s certainly phrased like they want you to think you shouldn’t, but the sudden headlines and ‘data grab’ now are overblown IMO.

Most of the people bothering to opt out now probably did when they first registered (since they feel strongly enough to go out of their way to do it, why wouldn’t they have when it was a mandatory yes/no question on a form they were already filling out) and just forgot about it.

To be clear, I titled this data ‘grab’ referring to the plans for NHS Digital to collect and upload GP records to a centralised database on July 1st.

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