Google given access to London patient records for research - BBC News

Google has been given access to an estimated 1.6 million NHS patient records, it has been revealed. The data-sharing agreement, revealed by New Scientist, includes full names as well as patient histories. Google says it will use the data to develop an early warning system for patients at risk of developing acute kidney injuries. But critics have questioned why it needs the data of all patients to create such a specific app. Under the data-sharing agreement, Google's artificial intelligence division DeepMind will have access to all of the data of patients from the Royal Free, Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals in London going back over the past five years and continuing until 2017.