I would trust Google’s DeepMind with my personal data more than the NHS
The NHS is not a data company. Google's pretty good with that kind of thing.
No wonder, then that the millions of pieces of information the health service has amassed about the nation's wellbeing – from admission times to blood tests – is being shared with the company in pursuit of the shared and very human goal of diagnosing serious illnesses.
DeepMind, the artificial intelligence startup which is one of Britain's biggest tech success stories after being acquired by Google, will have access to potentially millions of patient records.
Cue the scare mongering headlines: alert the church elders.
I don't take the issue of privacy lightly, but the truth is, this kind of sharing is not new. Data has been shared with private companies for years. Cerner is just one private company with which the NHS shares data, along with more than 1,000 under an information-sharing agreement drafted in 2014.
Read more: The nine things scientists believe could cause the apocalypse (soon)
New Scientist, which broke the exclusive on the deal last Friday, also details the work the University of Oxford is already doing integrating artificial intelligence into diagnosing disease thanks to access to medical data.
In fact, the sharing deal with DeepMind is the best so far in securing patient privacy – the information is completely encrypted. Not a single employee of DeepMind or Google has access to the information of patients, it is only machine readable according to the Royal Free London NHS Trust, which the deal is with. And let's not forget the two organisations have been working together since February on an app called Stream which can help doctors monitor patients.
If the NHS, which does an amazing job at treating patients already, can't negotiate doctors' working hours, what hope is there for it becoming a world leading creator of diagnostic technology? The NHS should be applauded for its progressive approach to scientific research, whether it's with a private company or university lab. It will make the jobs of doctors and other NHS staff easier and help them treat illnesses which end people's lives.
The NHS is amazing at many things, but let's all be honest, its history with IT is not a great one and failed plans have cost tax payers billions. Just today the Information Commissioner's Office fined an NHS Trust £185,000 for posting the private details of more than 6,000 staff online. The enforcement officer said the Trust had "played fast and loose with the highly sensitive and private information".
We shouldn't be concerned about Google's breaching patient privacy, said Ross Anderson of the University of Cambridge, speaking to New Scientist and who taught DeepMind's co-founder Demis Hassabis.
Read more: One chart showing artificial intelligence is better than humans
Anyone lamenting the risk of their private data being shared with DeepMind – that can of worms is already open when it comes to privacy risks, from the NHS to telecoms firms. And even without encryption, I would trust my personal data with Google more than I would the NHS.
They also underestimate the potential benefits of data sharing. Today, with DeepMind it's about using AI to detect acute kidney disease (AKI), something that affects more than one in six patients. That's just the start. This is the kind of technology which could be saving lives within our lifetime.
We should see the sharing of our personal data as an act with the same influence and impact as signing up to become an organ donor. Who wouldn't want to help save people's lives?