KONP supports the use of personal health data in research, service planning and the development of new technologies when in the public interest and when ethics and human rights are put first. We believe that the exploitation of our health data for profit should be resisted as actively as the privatisation of the NHS. In addition, Big Tech and the organisations that use our data to develop and Artificial Intelligence should be regulated so that the interests of people are put before profit.
Update on Data (Use and Access) Bill 2024
The Data (Use and Access) Bill, introduced by the Labour Government but similar in many respects to a Bill previously drawn up by the Conservatives, has now passed through Parliament and is now enacted as the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
One of the main intentions of the DUA Bill was to ‘harness the power of data’ (including our health data) to encourage innovation and economic growth.
KONP, among others, campaigned against a range of provisions that were in the Bill that had worrying implications for the NHS and its users. Despite all efforts, the Act will:
- Reduce data protections and increase access to our personal health data for the private sector and public authorities (including the police, Home Office and Department of Work and Pensions);
- Redefine ‘scientific research’ to include commercial activities;
- Change the meaning of ‘consent’ so that agreeing to the use of your data for one research project means that you may also have consented to future but yet unknown projects;
- Expand the lawful basis for the use of solely automated decision (ADM): unless processing special category data, companies will no longer be required to demonstrate why solely ADM is permissible. Instead, an individual could be subject to an automated decision without their consent: it will be up to individuals to challenge decisions made about them based on ADM even though they may be unaware of such decisions!
- Weaken our right to question organisations about the data they may hold about us;
- Give significant new powers to a Secretary of State allowing them to introduce or change legislation with little to no Parliamentary scrutiny.
- Reduce the independence of the Information Commission Office, the data watchdog.
NEW ARTICLES
Who has access to our health data? Local and national data systems May 2026
This paper provides a snap shot of the complex infrastructure that’s currently in place for sharing NHS data and which allows increasing access to our health data for non-direct care purposes, including commercial research. The paper is in two parts, the first using London as an example of a local data system, and the second looking at national systems for managing and sharing data.
◼︎ Big tech at the heart of the NHS 10 year plan and present across the UK Public Sector: the capture of our public infrastructure by private behemoths
Martin Blanchard, Data Working Group, October 2025.
This paper describes the ‘critical’ infrastructure that has developed in the NHS in the pursuit of a technological solution to improve productivity- who provides it, how it works, the way it makes profits, issues about its development and activities, and the monopolies it creates that make it difficult to leave. There are also concerns about the degree of power the owners of such a critical infrastructure may gain, especially if what is seen by the IMF as ‘entitlement’ funding for public healthcare is to face further cuts purportedly to avoid future economic crises. Several countries are taking actions to try to avoid this possibility and to take back control.
Three articles
Five things you should know about the new Data Use and Access Bill
NHS England and successive governments have seen digitalisation and its technologies as a means of solving the problems of the NHS. These two, linked papers look specifically at the implications of Cloud technologies, both for the NHS and globally.
Part 1 ‘Public clouds’, what they are, how they work and what they mean for the
NHS
Part 2 Global implications of the use of Big Tech and their ‘clouds’
SELECTED WORKING GROUP PAPERS
- BRIEFING FOR MPs from Data Working Group prior to passing of the Bill
Labour’s Data Use and Access Bill and the use of NHS data Keep Our NHS Public Briefing, December 2024 - NEW BRIEFING PAPER The NHS, Artificial Intelligence and Big Tech: A Briefing from Keep Our NHS Public’s Data Working Group
- 5 reasons why our personal data is under threat – a brief introduction to the topic.
- What threats does ‘Big Tech’ pose for our personal health data:
A brief article outlining how it’s not just our data privacy that is at risk when Big Tech gain access to NHS data. These corporations are also – and increasingly – taking ownership of the knowledge generated from our data, allowing them to gain unsanctioned control over future healthcare developments.Read here. - Labour’s Industrial Strategy and Harnessing Data for Public Good
There is just a single mention of data protection in Labour’s Industrial Strategy: “a Labour government will stand up for the democratic, privacy and security rights of UK citizens”. Read here about our concerns relating to data in the broader context of Labour’s plans. - The Government is looking to introduce ‘modern regulation’ to govern technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as AI. ‘Modern regulation’ will mean weaker statutory control of these technologies and a reduced regulatory burden for the private sector. See The NHS, governance and the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
FURTHER RESOURCES
For other papers and information see our Resources section
DIGITALISATION AI AND THE NHS
- Digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the NHS workforce
- Summary of AI Talking Therapies (with thanks to Paul Atkinson)
- The Tony Blair Institute, AI and the future of the NHS
Paper from the KONP working group which highlights concerns about the direction of travel that the new government may take following a report from the influential Tony Blair Institute, which argues that economic growth is paramount and depends on partnership with the private sector in order to grasp the opportunities offered by AI.