Google accused of "demolition of trust" on the application of health

A controversial health application developed by the DeepMind artificial intelligence company will be taken over by Google, it was revealed.

Streams was first used to send alerts to a London hospital, but made headlines for collecting data on 1.6 million patients without informing them.

DeepMind now wants the app to become an AI assistant for nurses and doctors around the world.

One expert described the move as a "demolition of trust".

The news that Streams would join Google was announced in a DeepMind blog post.

"Our vision is to have Streams become an AI-based assistant for nurses and doctors around the world – combining the best algorithms with an intuitive design, all backed by rigorous evidence.

"The team working at Google, along with brilliant colleagues from across the company, will help bring that vision to life."

It's not just the streams that will be affected. The DeepMind Health division, which has partnered with 10 NHS hospitals for medical data processing, will also report to Google Health, based in California.

Julia Powles, a lawyer and privacy expert, who has been closely following the development of Streams, replied on Twitter: "DeepMind has repeatedly and unconditionally promised never to connect intimate health data and identifiable to Google ".

"Now, it's announced … exactly that, it's not transparency, it's a demolition of trust," she added.

In response, DeepMind told the BBC: "Patient data remains under the strict control of our NHS partners, and any decisions regarding their use will remain with them." The change to Google does not affect this. . "

Privacy law violated

The streams started with a collaboration with the Royal Free Hospital in London to help manage acute kidney damage. Doctors have sought help from DeepMind, a Google-owned company, to develop software to identify and alert clinicians about patients at risk.

Initially, he did not use artificial intelligence, but he was still rented by doctors and nurses who used it because of the time it saved them for diagnosis and treatment patients.

However, it turned out that neither the health trust nor DeepMind had informed patients of the large amount of data it was using.

DeepMind Health then collaborated with the Moorfields Eye Hospital, with machine-learning algorithms analyzing eye images for signs of diseases such as macular degeneration.

In July 2017, the UK's Information Commissioner said that the UK hospital trust involved in the first Streams trial had breached the UK's privacy law for not having not informing patients of how their data was used.

He told the BBC that he expected all of the measures outlined in his audit "to remain in place" after the transfer of DeepMind Health to Google.

The controversy around Steams led to the creation of an independent review committee to examine DeepMind's relationship with the NHS.

DeepMind confirmed to the BBC that it was "unlikely" that the panel would continue in its current form, given the US takeover of the health division.

This is not the first time that an independent firm is taken over by Google.

Nest, which collects data from security cameras, thermostats and home security doorbells, has been set up autonomously, with the promise that no data will be shared with the search giant.

But in February, it was merged with Google to help build "a more thoughtful home."