Facebook attempted to get hold of users' medical records for, er, 'research'
Facebook attempted to get hold of users' medical records
for, er, 'research'
Project has been put on hold following Cambridge
Analytica data scandal
By Carly Page 06
April 2018
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook attempted to get hold of US
users' medical records, according to a report at CNBC.
According to the report, Facebook approached
"several major US hospitals to share anonymised data about their patients,
such as illnesses and prescription info, for a proposed research project."
While the firm would obscure personally identifiable
information, it reportedly planned to match the medical records with user data
it had collected in order to "help the hospitals figure out which patients
might need special care or treatment."
However, the report notes that the so-called project has
since been put on hold since the Cambridge Analytica data scandal erupted -
which Facebook this week admitted affected 87 million users of the social network,
up from the 50 million initially reported.
"This work has not progressed past the planning
phase, and we have not received, shared, or analyzed anyone's data," a
Facebook spokesperson told CNBC.
The report notes, however, that the company was talking
to several health organisations - including Stanford Medical School and
American College of Cardiology - about signing the data-sharing agreement as
recently as last month.
While the prospect of Facebook getting its hands on users
medical data is extremely worrying, particularly in the wake of the Cambridge
Analytica hoo-hah, the project would have had its benefits, according to
experts.
Facebook's pitch, according to people familiar with the
project, was to combine what a health system knows about its patients with what
Facebook knows. This could help to determine whether an elderly patient that
doesn't have many nearby close friends or much support needed extra medical help
after a major surgery, for example.
Cathleen Gates, the interim CEO of the American College
of Cardiology, said to CNBC: "As part of its mission to transform
cardiovascular care and improve heart health, the American College of
Cardiology has been engaged in discussions with Facebook around the use of
anonymized Facebook data, coupled with anonymized ACC data, to further
scientific research on the ways social media can aid in the prevention and
treatment of heart disease—the #1 cause of death in the world."
Seperately this week, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief
operating officer, has come out of hiding to address the Cambridge Analytica
breach.
"We thought that the data had been deleted, and
you're right, we should have checked," she said, unconvincingly, during an
interview on the Today show.
Sanberg went on to say that while Facebook is giving
users the option to opt out of sharing some data, an option to not share any
data would be a "paid product".
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