By Manskar
Federal officials are probing Google’s secret effort to amass data on millions of Americans’ health histories.
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights is examining Google’s so-called Project Nightingale, a partnership with the Ascension health system that has reportedly collected detailed information about some 50 million patients.
The agency says it is looking into whether the project sufficiently protects patients’ privacy under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The law, also known as HIPAA, allows providers to share health information with business partners only if doing so helps them carry out “health care functions.”
The civil rights office “would like to learn more information about this mass collection of individuals’ medical records with respect to the implications for patient privacy under HIPAA,” office director Roger Severino said in a statement.
Ascension — the nation’s largest nonprofit health network — has given Google the names, dates of birth, hospitalization histories, lab tests and other personal details of patients in more than a dozen states, the Wall Street Journal revealed Monday. The paper was also the first to report on the federal inquiry Tuesday.
Several US senators — including Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Bill Cassidy of (R-La.) — have criticized the project, saying it raises concerns about whether Americans’ health data is safe in the hands of big tech companies.
“Blatant disregard for privacy, public well-being, & basic norms is now core to Google’s business model,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said on Twitter. “This abuse is beyond shameful.”
Google defended its Ascension partnership by saying it will help improve patient care. Google also said patient data cannot be mixed with its consumer data or used for purposes other than those offered under its deal with Ascension.
“Modernizing the healthcare industry is a critically important task, with the ultimate result not just digital transformation, but also improving patient outcomes and saving lives,” Google executive Tariq Shaukat wrote in a blog post published Monday.
