Google is facing the class-action lawsuit in the UK for allegedly using confidential medical records belonging to 1.6 million individuals “without their consent or knowledge”.
DeepMind, the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) division, received the data in 2015 from the Royal Free NHS Trust in London for the purpose of testing a smartphone app called Streams, which aims to address the 25 per cent of deaths from acute kidney injuries that could be avoided through early detection. The app was subsequently used by the Trust on a discount basis.
The Trust was sanctioned by the UK’s Information Commissioner's Office in 2017 after the data protection watchdog deemed the data-sharing deal illegal. At the time, Google avoided sanctions as the responsibility for the breach was placed upon the Trust.
Now, several years after, Andrew Prismalli is bringing the claim in a representative action in the High Court to seek damages for unlawful use of patients...