Google DeepMind Secures Access to 1.6 Million Patient Records from Three London Hospitals to Develop AKI Early-Warning App Streams

Authors: Li Simeng, Wu BinbinAccording to a BBC report on May 3, Google has obtained approximately 1.6 million patient records from the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. However, this data-sharing initiative by the NHS did not obtain prior consent from patients.Royal Free NHS Trust Shares 1.6 Million Patient Records with GooglePreviously, the British science news magazine New Scientist disclosed a data-sharing agreement between Google and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Under this agreement, medical data from nearly 1.6 million patients in London would be shared with DeepMind, Google’s artificial intelligence subsidiary, for research purposes.According to the data-sharing agreement, DeepMind, Google’s AI division, would gain access to patient databases from Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, and the Royal Free Hospital in London. The data spanned five years, up to 2017.Google stated that it would use these data to develop Streams, an app-based early warning system designed for individuals at high risk of acute kidney injury (AKI). The app alerts physicians when a patient is at risk of AKI. The NHS noted that acute kidney injury accounts for 20% of emergency hospital admissions, approximately one-quarter of which are preventable.Data Shared Without Patient Consent?The NHS’s data sharing without patient consent has sparked concern among the British public, with many media outlets expressing skepticism. Critics have asked: Why does Google need access to all patients’ data to develop such an app?When asked why patients were not informed prior to data sharing, the NHS responded: “For the purpose of direct patient care, healthcare professionals operate under the assumption that patients consent to the sharing of their personal information. The NHS collaborates with more than 1,500 organizations on data sharing; obtaining individual consent from every patient would be impractical.”Two years ago, the NHS planned to launch Care.data, a platform for sharing UK patient records, but the initiative was ultimately shelved amid strong public opposition driven by concerns over data security.Google stated that while it does not rule out using the data for other purposes, it will only use the data to improve healthcare and will never link it to other Google accounts or products.Sam Smith, administrator at the patient data protection organization MedConfidential, commented: “This collaboration is not limited to kidney function issues. DeepMind is attempting to develop general-purpose algorithms applicable to all conditions. The key question now is why they want to do this. It is a vast and rich database.”A senior scientist at Google DeepMind stated: “Access to timely and relevant databases is crucial for healthcare professionals to identify signs of patient deterioration. Acute kidney injury causes 40,000 deaths annually, the majority of which are preventable, and this is the primary focus of our work.”Google Makes Frequent Moves in the Healthcare SectorGoogle has significant ambitions in the healthcare industry. In 2013, it established Calico, a company operating under Google X dedicated to exploring the mechanisms of aging. Google X, the tech giant’s primary research division, set an ambitious goal in 2014: to construct a genetic information map to create a comprehensive map of human health. This year, Google secured a patent for using drones to deliver medical supplies. Google Glass has also demonstrated its value in healthcare; startups such as Augmedix leverage the device to provide medical care services.Data security remains a Damocles’ sword hanging over service providers. Whether Google, which is striving to carve out a niche in the medical field, can safeguard the threshold of data information remains to be seen.