On friday night, those of us who had our fill of Chavez' monotonous quotations and flirting with Cindy Sheenan, were prevented from leaving the premises until the end of his speech (which could have been... who knows when). According to the heavily armed National Guard operatives blocking the exits, there could be a saboteur among us compromising the Comandante's security (later we heard from an insider that it is just standard procedure). This is after Chavez' passionate condemnation of the Bush admisnistration's international politics. I'd like to take this oportunity to quote Nietzsche when he said that "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster".
Stop the secrecy: Publish the NHS COVID data deals
To: Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We’re calling on you to immediately release details of the secret NHS data deals struck with private companies, to deliver the NHS COVID-19 datastore.
We, the public, deserve to know exactly how our personal information has been traded in this ‘unprecedented’ deal with US tech giants like Google, and firms linked to Donald Trump (Palantir) and Vote Leave (Faculty AI).
The COVID-19 datastore will hold private, personal information about every single one of us who relies on the NHS. We don’t want our personal data falling into the wrong hands.
And we don’t want private companies – many with poor reputations for protecting privacy – using it for their own commercial purposes, or to undermine the NHS.
The datastore could be an important tool in tackling the pandemic. But for it to be a success, the public has to be able to trust it.
Today, we urgently call on you to publish all the data-sharing agreements, data-impact assessments, and details of how the private companies stand to profit from their involvement.
The NHS is a precious public institution. Any involvement from private companies should be open to public scrutiny and debate. We need more transparency during this pandemic – not less.
By adding my name to this campaign, I authorise openDemocracy and Foxglove to keep me updated about their important work.
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