Confidentiality, privacy, and general practice: GPDPR and the brave new world of ‘big data’

Big data is big business. Health data is valuable for the public good — it can save and improve lives — but it can also be monetised for private profit. The UK’s NHS data has been valued at £10 billion. GP data — with details of everything from medications to diagnoses that include mental illness, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases, suicide attempts, and addictions — is arguably the most detailed, valuable, and sensitive of all. Health...