Google and its artificial intelligence startup, DeepMind, are being sued in London over the lab's handling of the health data of over a million patients in the development of a patient-monitoring app, CNBC reported Oct. 1.
Five things to know:
- Andrew Prismall is suing DeepMind on behalf of roughly 1.6 million patients whose medical records were obtained by DeepMind without their consent, according to the report.
- "As a patient having any sort of medical treatment, the last thing you would expect is your private medical records to be in the hands of one of the world’s biggest technology companies," said Mr. Prismall, according to CNBC.
- DeepMind, acquired by Google in 2019, and the U.K.'s National Health Service signed a deal in 2015 that gave DeepMind access to pseudonymized patient records to develop the Streams patient-monitoring app.
- A 2017 ruling found the agreement between the health service and DeepMind violated data protection laws, but a later audit found the agreement was lawful and complied with data protection laws.
- In August, Insider reported Google was taking the app offline after it said it was dismantling its Google Health division.