This has of course been Dominic Cummings’s plan for years - you can read about it quite openly on his blog, and on the blog of his friend American physicist/eugenicist Steve Hsu. The point is to allow private industry to capture the health information of private citizens in order to turn Britain into a genetic modification powerhouse- pitched on the basis of fighting genetic diseases, but in fact founded on the anti-egalitarian, genetic-determinist, race-and-iq worldview of much of the modern right
Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
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Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#12And that's why we don't trust "the good guys" with our data. There are no good guys, keep your damn data to yourself no matter what.
That might be good advice in general, but I don't think that works with medical data. If I get hurt and end up in a hospital, how would the surgeons decrypt my hard drive to find my medical history if I'm unconscious? Obviously I need to entrust this data to somebody.
Edit: Not being a doctor, it's difficult for me to anticipate what sort of information doctors would consider relevant. Certainly there are some easy cases to anticipate, like allergies to penicillin or similar. And I think for things like that, people do get medical tattoos. But personally I'd feel far more comfortable if my doctors have my complete medical history available to them when they need it.
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#13At this point, if you work at Palantir, you should be very ashamed of yourself and please consider quitting.
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#14This should probably be updated to say "UK Govt" for clarity, not everyone will immediately know what the National Health Service is.
I actually think that should become a general rule. Way too many US-related titles about things far less well known than the NHS.
NHS in general is way less known than UK citizens think. Especially in Europe where the existence of a national healthcare system is not a religion but a norm.
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#15And that's why we don't trust "the good guys" with our data. There are no good guys, keep your damn data to yourself no matter what.
That might be good advice in general, but I don't think that works with medical data. If I get hurt and end up in a hospital, how would the surgeons decrypt my hard drive to find my medical history if I'm unconscious? Obviously I need to entrust this data to somebody. Edit: Not being a doctor, it's difficult for me to anticipate what sort of information doctors would consider relevant. Certainly there are some easy c…
I'm willing the accept the 5% extra chance of death entailed by some emergency doctor not knowing my medical history. If I have something crucial, like an allergy to medication, I guess I'd just get that tattooed somewhere obvious.
In the vast majority of emergency cases for the vast majority of patients, I don't think one's medical history is going to be a significant factor in getting them out of the woods far enough to give an "encryption key."
How about just allowing me to register a checklist of what I think doctors should be informed about me with some federal database? A system that is centered around me, and my concerns, rather than just using my safety as a post hoc justification?
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#16As a UK taxpayer this makes me so angry. The fact this incredibly valuable (not to mention privacy sensitive) data is given away through backroom deals for a pittance without any transparency is just infuriating.
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Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually think that should become a general rule. Way too many US-related titles about things far less well known than the NHS.
NHS in general is way less known than UK citizens think. Especially in Europe where the existence of a national healthcare system is not a religion but a norm.
> Especially in Europe where the existence of a national healthcare system is not a religion but a norm.
An NHS-type system is not at all the norm in Europe. Comprehensive and universal health insurance or even single-payer health insurance are not the same as the single-payer (mostly) single-provider system in the UK.
In most of the Germanic countries, for instance, the norm is closer to the multiple-payer multiple-provider system in the US in structure, albeit most certainly not in outcomes due to some important tweaks.
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#18As a UK taxpayer this makes me so angry. The fact this incredibly valuable (not to mention privacy sensitive) data is given away through backroom deals for a pittance without any transparency is just infuriating.
If things like this upset you, you are seriously naive about the operations of your government. As a former Palantir employee, I can say with some confidence that the govt and private company's make efforts to ensure these things remain secret..
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#19And that's why we don't trust "the good guys" with our data. There are no good guys, keep your damn data to yourself no matter what.
That might be good advice in general, but I don't think that works with medical data. If I get hurt and end up in a hospital, how would the surgeons decrypt my hard drive to find my medical history if I'm unconscious? Obviously I need to entrust this data to somebody. Edit: Not being a doctor, it's difficult for me to anticipate what sort of information doctors would consider relevant. Certainly there are some easy c…
Generally speaking, the surgeon isn't going to have your medical history until well into your treatment... probably by the time you or someone who knows you are able to tell them anything they want to know. There's not a properly linked database of healthcare records for that purpose - the hospital doesn't even know what GP you're with, never mind have instant access to your records, and it mostly works out.
Re: Government finally publishes NHS contracts with Palantir, Faculty and big tech
#20As a UK taxpayer this makes me so angry. The fact this incredibly valuable (not to mention privacy sensitive) data is given away through backroom deals for a pittance without any transparency is just infuriating.
If things like this upset you, you are seriously naive about the operations of your government. As a former Palantir employee, I can say with some confidence that the govt and private company's make efforts to ensure these things remain secret..
It helps them sell the deal. Like a secret weapon,as opposed to a liability.