NHS England patient data 'uploaded to Google servers', Tory MP says • Hacker News Board

Re: NHS England patient data 'uploaded to Google servers', Tory MP says

#181

Post by andygates » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 10:45 AM UTC

dhoulb wrote: post #150

lotsofmangos wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NHS number, date of birth, postcode, ethnicity and gender. Is about as anonymous as wearing a different hat.

NHS number is clearly ridiculous. But, I can see why all the other data are statistically relevant in analysis. Postcode, so you can track viral outbreak etc with a fair degree of locational accuracy. Date of birth, so you could analyse if people born in certain seasons had higher incidences of various diseases. (You could probably drop the day and just have month, but there could be cases where there were more hospi…

A hash of the NHS number would give a UID without compromising the person's details. Providing a UID that is one-way linked would allow HSCIC to go to the actual data if a care situation warranted it.

I'd argue that the first half of the postcode and month of birth are ample for outside-HSCIC use. Monday-deaths is the kind of thing that's done internally anyway.

Re: NHS England patient data 'uploaded to Google servers', Tory MP says

#182

Post by andygates » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 10:47 AM UTC

danielweber wrote: post #64

revelation wrote: post #43

I trust Google more than I do "PA Consulting". Which begs the question, how did we get here? Who in their right mind sends out 27 DVDs with probably unencrypted, highly sensitive medical data? Even if the recipient is trustworthy, the transport isn't. This data needs to be on a locked away government server that answers queries by 3rd party by throwing away half of the data and randomizing the remainder.

Sending things in the post may be the acceptable method of sending sensitive data. I'm guessing that the UK prosecutes people who mess with the post the same way that the US prosecutes people who mess with the mail. EDIT I'm not sure what I'm talking about. Was the complaint about "27 DVDs" just the amount of data or the method?

It seems to be about the _assumption_ that they were unencrypted.

We mail out encrypted DVDs semi-regularly. Works fine.

Re: NHS England patient data 'uploaded to Google servers', Tory MP says

#183

Post by collyw » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 1:32 PM UTC

shocks wrote: post #167

bananas wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Boilerplate reply and a permanent filing in the cylindrical filing cabinet awaits. If you're lucky, they'll use it to lean on whilst writing a cheque to the guy who just installed a duck house in their pond at your expense...

Funny. I've written to several of my local MPs and always received a direct response regarding the issues I have raised. How many times have you received boilerplate replies?

I gave my local MP my opinion on extending the copyright law in the UK a few years back. The response was along the lines of "Our party believes this. You are in our constituency".

I wrote back explaining that I didn't believe that was the way democracy was supposed to work, the politicians are there to represent the people, not the other way around. The next reply was sympathetic to my view, but I have my doubt that my opinion was actually represented there.

Re: NHS England patient data 'uploaded to Google servers', Tory MP says

#184

Post by suprgeek » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 10:17 PM UTC

twic wrote: post #148

suprgeek wrote: post #128

All that is now needed is to cross reference it with the ridiculously extensive CCTV footage that the Govt. in Britain has collected & continues to collect everyday. Perfect Surveillance at a granularity that was not possible before.

No no no - perfect healthcare at a granularity that was not possible before! Plays much better with the voters!

You may have a great future in Politics!