Google DeepMind NHS data deal was 'legally inappropriate'

Google DeepMind received 1.6 million identifiable personal medical records on an "inappropriate legal basis", according to a letter written by Fiona Caldicott at the UK's National Data Guardian, a government watchdog that monitors patient confidentiality. The letter obtained by Sky News was sent to the medical director of the Royal Free NHS Trust in London on 20 February. The data sharing agreement between the trust and DeepMind was first revealed by a New Scientist investigation last year. Google's AI firm originally obtained the NHS patient records to test a smartphone app called Streams that could help monitor people with kidney disease. A quarter of acute kidney deaths are preventable if caught early, so DeepMind wanted to use its algorithms to try to spot early signs of the disease.