Patient sues Google, University of Chicago over data sharing

A patient has sued Google and the University of Chicago, accusing them of sharing hundreds of thousands of records without removing date stamps and doctor's notes.

According to a report in CNET on Wednesday, the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for Northern Illinois alleged that the partnership between the University's Medical Centre and Google shared too much personal information.

The partnership uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict medical events, such as how long a patient might be hospitalized and whether their health is deteriorating.

"The personal medical information obtained by Google is the most sensitive and intimate information in an individual's life, and its unauthorized disclosure is far more damaging to an individual's privacy than compromised credit card numbers," said the lawsuit.

The suit was filed on behalf of a patient named Matt Dinerstein, who was admitted to the university's hospital in 2015, reports statnews.com.

The lawsuit claimed that the university's hospital "did not notify its patients, let alone obtain their express consent, before turning over their confidential medical records to Google for its own commercial gain".

Google and the University, saying the lawsuit lacked merit.

"We believe our health care research could help save lives in the future, which is why we take privacy seriously and follow all relevant rules and regulations in our handling of health data," a Google spokes person was quoted as saying.

"The University of Chicago Medical Center has complied with the laws and regulations applicable to patient privacy," added a varsity spokesperson.