Wednesday 22 January 2014

More on the UK Sellout of NHS Medical Data and Records: How to Opt Out and How It's Being Hidden

Just a few days ago I once again pointed to the relentless determination of the UK government to set up a sellout of individual medical data and information, collected in the medical records of the ordinary patients of the National Health Service who have never signed up as research subjects , to private interests, such as the pharmacological industry and health insurance companies. This apparently without any type of safeguard for the many misuses easily imagined as an effect of such official recklessness.

Now it turns out I was wrong. There is one safeguard, namely that you as an individual UK citizen may actively opt out of the scheme while still using the benefits of the NHS. This possibility is, one guesses, mandated by basic legal consideration and presumably by EU constitutional and human rights law as well. However, the UK authorities seem to be doing their very best to hide this option from the public, possibly realizing that the free access to private heath data of private business interests making rather easy identification of individual identities quite likely will scare the living daylights out of a lot of people. Of course, thereby making the whole design stink even more in the process.

In any case, luckily, there are vigilant bloggers around, who sniff out scams like this and provide the service to citizens that public authorities paid for the purpose fail to do. In this particular case, Med Confidential tells you more exactly how this way out for anyone who don't want to risk the substantial downsides of the "business friendly" attitude to privacy and confidentiality championed by Mr. Cameron's government has been actively obscured and how you may access and use it – providing easy to download links to the opting out form you need to fill out and submit for yopur right to take legal effect,

Read more here!