UK government: we demand a say in how our NHS health data is used

We demand a say in how our health data is used, especially in a system run by US corporation Palantir. We want our data to be used in a way that helps the NHS. We also want our privacy protected, and we don’t want our data to be commercially exploited without our consent.

We’re calling on the UK government to:

  1. Drop the plan to stop us from opting out of the Federated Data Platform – instead seek patient consent BEFORE our data is used for anything other than our own direct treatment
  2. Improve the existing systems for patient consent and give us proper choices about how our data is used and who it has been shared with, including when it has been “anonymised” or “pseudonymised”
  3. Ensure proper safeguards are in place in the Federated Data Platform to protect our data from commercial exploitation by private companies and to ensure our health data is not shared with other government bodies, for example the Home Office or DWP. 

Background:

The UK government is trying to sneak through sinister, last-minute changes to the rights of NHS patients in England over their health data – just as it prepares to hand a massive new contract to run the NHS data platform to a dodgy US corporation called Palantir. 

It wants to strip patients of our say in how our data is used in the new database. As recently as August, the government was claiming that they planned to reform the opt-out system to give patients more choice. Now, it says patients can’t opt-out of their data flowing into the new data platform at all.

Together we can stop this – sign the petition demanding a real say in how your health data is used and better protections to safeguard patient privacy and stop data being exploited by private companies.