The UK National Data Guardian for health and care’s review of data security, consent and opt-outs: leadership in balancing public health with rights to privacy?

Tom Chan,Craig Kuziemsky,Simon De Lusignan,Concetta Tania Di Iorio,Daniel Lo Russo,Siaw-Teng Liaw

doi:10.14236/jhi.v23i3.909

Abstract

Sharing health and social care data is essential to the delivery of high-quality health care as well as disease surveillance and public health and for conducting research. However, these societal...

Highlights

Sharing health and social care data is essential to the delivery of high-quality health care and health care monitoring.[1]
The Data Protection Act 1998 provided an exemption from the general prohibition of processing sensitive data for reasons of substantial public interests, which are identified in statutory instruments
UK has already implemented most of the EU privacy and data protection principles contained in the new Regulation

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Sharing health and social care data is essential to the delivery of high-quality health care and health care monitoring.[1]. The respect of privacy and data protection principles may pose legal constraints to the sharing of health information, even when it aims to societal benefits. The increasing digitalisation of information in recent decades continuously has posed new challenges and threats to privacy and data protection. The Data Protection Act 1998 provided an exemption from the general prohibition of processing sensitive data for reasons of substantial public interests, which are identified in statutory instruments. These general exemptions included data processing for research, historical and statistical purposes, subject to suitable safeguards. Consultation on whether the opt-out choice could be in two parts: 1. Opt-out where data are processed for use in NHS and social care system

Opt-out model for data processed for research

Process

Technology

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION