This week openDemocracy and Foxglove, a tech justice start-up, sent a legal letter demanding the UK government urgently publishes details of its controversial patient data deals with big tech companies – struck at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. If we don’t get this information, we will consider suing for publication.
Outside of the horrific death toll, perhaps the most far-reaching global consequence of the pandemic is the rapid expansion of surveillance in our daily lives. In the name of beating back the pandemic, governments around the world are giving tech giants extensive access to valuable stores of health data.
Britain is no different. On 28 March, a blog quietly appeared on the website of the cherished National Health Service. It announced what might be the largest handover of NHS patient data to private corporations in history.
