Campaigners are rightly concerned that the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill winding its way through Parliament will, if passed, undermine many of the current protections for our personal health data. It will, for instance, lower the threshold for its use in scientific research by changing the definition of scientific research to include anything, including commercial activities, that can 'reasonably' be described as such.
But what’s often overlooked is that existing legislation already allows the government and public bodies to access our health records for purposes other than our direct care without our consent.
Our NHS records, in addition to supporting our direct care, are hugely valuable for planning services, ensuring public health, and supporting scientific research. The government also believes this data should be used to help grow the UK’s economy and as this bill and other indicators show, wants to reduce legal protections to make it readily available to the world of commerce.
