Data mining – UK Govt is selling your Medical records to insurance companies

I came across this today WTF!


DATA MINING – UK Govt is selling your Medical records to insurance companies

11/01/2014

The UK government is about to upload all your sensitive medical data to insurance companies as a revenue stream.

Your data is NOT Anonymous

nhs anon

It includes, Name, Age, DOB, Address, Race, Medical Conditions, Treatment for STD’s, Cancer.

nhs1

Everything you DON’T Want insurance companies or employers to know about.

No Right to DATA DELETION

nhs2

This info will not help nurses or doctors.

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Your GP cannot stop this DATA MINING – BUT YOU CAN!!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14156524/caredata_trifold.pdf

Why should you opt out?

Axcioum buys 3 billion datasets a day. They use the data to price your insurance premiums.

It’s your future. Stop them selling your medical data.

YOU MUST ACT NOW. Below is a pdf. Print it out, sign it – drop it off at your Doctors.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14156524/caredata_trifold.pdf

*****

http://optout.care-data.info/

Fill a form in, and hand it into, post it to, email it to or fax it to your GP surgery.

That’s it. Simple.

The two opt-codes (9Nu0 and 9Nu4) will be added by your surgery, no questions asked. And your data will be protected.

Remember to opt-out your children, or those for whom you have parental responsibility, as well.

If you prefer, you can just write a letter to your surgery, or even email them if they allow it.
State that you wish to opt-out of care.data
Request that both the 9Nu0 and 9Nu4 codes are added to your GP records

Link to source
http://uwnthesis.wordpress.com/2014...-your-medical-records-to-insurance-companies/

 

Many thanks. My note will be handed in tonight for me and my family. + REP

 

Oh well, at least it's marginally more useful than crypto mining.

 

Yea thanks for the heads up, although i would like to add that according to sources the data being sold is pseudonymisation

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/19/nhs-patient-data-available-companies-buy

EDIT: And it would also seem this is another case of the government imposing the default of opting people in to something. As even though a leaflet is being sent out to people who may mistake it for junk mail DON'T as hidden away are details on how to inform your Doctor you want to opt out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10584402/Dont-mislead-us-about-our-NHS-medical-records.html

 

Wow, nothing like a good bit of scaremongering. Shame it contains absolutely no proof to support the allegations that identifiable medical records will be sold to insurance companies.


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Not scaremongering, see the above articles for more details.

On a side note...

EU proposals could outlaw giant NHS database.
Proposed EU laws could render £50 million NHS database illegal, senior officials warn.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10585305/EU-proposals-could-outlaw-giant-NHS-database.html

 

Alleging that the government is going to give identifiable patient records to insurance companies is scaremongering.



Providing interested parties, e.g. researchers with access to anonymised or pseudonymised data is not a new idea and it's a far cry from selling identifiable data to insurance companies.


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Sorry but who claimed it was identifiable patient records ?

 

Doesn't the OP say that if they're apparently going to include name, D.O.B etc?

 

Yes, the implication/allegation is that identifiable data will be sold to insurance companies and the like.


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You don't need someones name or D.O.B to have identifiable patient records, and i already pointed out that it is going to use pseudonymisation, and pointed out that it's not scaremongering.
Well unless you consider The Guardian and Telegraph are also scaremongering.

EDIT:

Well even the centre's public assurance director, Mark Davies, told the Guardian there was a "small risk" certain patients could be "re-identified" because insurers, pharmaceutical groups and other health sector companies had their own medical data that could be matched against the "pseudonymised" records.

 

Thank you very much Tel. I'll be making sure a few notes get sent off.

 

I don't see any sources for that information in the linked article, unless I have missed them. However the NHS website states the data that is stored and what happens to it and it clearly says that no identifiable information is shared, so it doesn't look like a problem to me. The information such as DOB and postcode are only stored so records can be linked correctly by the practice.

Link: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx

 

Very interesting, thank you for posting this, but I couldn't find much on the care.info site discussing the potential or claimed benefits of the scheme, so I'm going to wait for the official pamphlet and see what it says on that point. After all, a compromise of anonymity is sometimes worthwhile.

 

Spoke to my MP about this...apparently GPs are threatening strike action over it.

Also remember that your electoral details are sold to credit companies whether you opt out or not...thats right, UK law coerces you in to providing personal information to private companies on pain of disenfranchisement, statutory conviction and financial penalty

 

Your electoral details aren't 'sold' to credit companies if you opt out; however they are still made available to credit reference agencies for the sole purpose of credit checks. They cannot be used for other commercial purposes.

 

Its a known fact that police sell your details following a car accident... ever wondered why you get so many calls after one? Its quite conceivable that the Government would sell the info.. after all its they have lined their pockets while plunging us into Trillions of debt...

Those in denial really need to take their heads out of their arses... the apathy of this country will destroy it. You only have to read the letter they sent out... enough spiel to confuse the masses and ensure those who see through it are branded conspiracy nuts...

 

But they are sold to Insurance companies for the purpose of canvassing for business, My father worked for one of the major Ins companies and would get the electoral roll every year

 

They used to be, but then the law was changed to allow people to opt out. Now it is only the edited electoral roll that is made available for commercial purposes.

 

This is simply incorrect. Insurance companies request RTC reports from the Police to assist in the making of a claim and deciding who is at fault. Some forces still charge an admin fee for this as it's not as simple as just emailing them the report. I know this fee used to be between £25 and £55 depending on the complexity of the crash. A perfectly proportionate amount weighed up against the time the Police spend investigating each reported crash. This is not 'selling', it's complying with the law.

If the insurance company then forwards the details to other companies who subsequently ring you, then the blame lies with them, not the Police.