Forum Topic

So now we know!

Further to the earlier topic on the plans to sell off our private Medical Details to the highest bidder - according to a newspaper article yesterday this has already been happening for the past 13 YEARS!The article appeared on Page 10 in The Mail on Monday under the heading: The Insurance Firms who buy data on every NHS Patient'....A major UK insurance society claims it was able to access records of 47 million patients over 13 years to help it decide premiums for customers!The group The Staple Inn Actuarial Society - which works on behalf of insurance companies and actuaries used the information to recommend an increase in the price of policies for thousands of customers last year.I'll bet that this is just a tip of the iceberg, so if your premiums increase maybe this is the reason why!So much for data protection and patient confidentially!They know too much about us already!

Jean F Fernandez ● 4417d8 Comments

One minute we are advised to shread all our documents which might enable identity fraud, the next minute all our personal information is out there in the public domain.Once it is on the internet the information is available forever.The NHS have sold patient's confidential medical data which includes our postcode, gender and NHS number. A friend who works in the NHS said this is all the information needed to identify the patient.On the internet one can even find out how much a neighbours house sold for! Nothing is sacred nowadays unfortunately. I would guess it is so much easier for crooks to get hold of our private information.

Jean F Fernandez ● 4416d

Believe 50% of what you read and 50% of what you hear

Tony Maxey ● 4417d

Even DoB and a partial postcode would give anyone possessed of these data items from elsewhere (your application form for whatever it is that you are applying for, for example) a fighting chance.Just how many people living in W13 were born on any given day for example?When you look at it like that you can see that at least a fair percentage of the time they will still be able to nail an individual with confidence.(Is gender one of the data items sold to them?  Because if it is then the already not particularly tricky problem is halved.)

Tony Colliver ● 4417d

Date of birth and full postcode would allow total identification by cross referencing with other data. Yes the mail is dodgy but given the ties between NHS leadership and private business I think we should be worried.

Peter Chadburn ● 4417d

Its a strange world we experience now, so I don't take the majority of things and events too seriously; especially most items in the Daily Mail.

Gerry Tan ● 4417d

"Click on a website and you are bombarded with emails and offers for weeks afterwards. Big brother is watching you!"Simply don't accept any cookies and your browsing is fairly anonymous.

Nigel Brooks ● 4417d

I repeat - too much information is out there on each and every one of us - nothing to do with scaremongering by the Daily Mail.After spending a little time on the internet this evening I have discovered that one can find out all sorts of things just by typing in a name of someone. Then for a few pounds more information is available including County Court Judgements! Nothing is secret any more. The amount of information in the public domain is frightening.For instance, a double glazing firm somehow managed to email my friend's son to confirm they are coming to measure for her new windows. This is strange because my friend lives alone, and she said she was not on the internet (she did not want them to have her email address) yet they somehow managed to email her son to confirm the appontment! He lives elsewhere, his name is not on his email address, yet they found him! How?What would have happened if my friend did not want her relation to know that she was having double glazing fitted? This may seem trivial to some but she was absolutely shocked when her son rang her saying he received an email from this company.The surveyor who called to my fried today said he had just put his house on the market and, guess what? He is now receiveing telephone calls from Removal Firms even though the Estate Agents have denied passing on this information. He hasn't even had an offer on his property yet.So for those of you who think there is nothing to worry about and don't mind all this personal information flying about - think again! Goodness knows where it will end.The DVLA also makes money selling personal details - sometimes to these rougue clamping firms! Click on a website and you are bombarded with emails and offers for weeks afterwards. Big brother is watching you!

Jean F Fernandez ● 4417d

The information had only date of birth and postcode it didn't identify individuals.More Mail scaremongering.

Nigel Brooks ● 4417d