Amazon Alexa Health: Is Right for the Citizen’s Health

Amazon Alexa Health: Is Right for the Citizen’s Health?

And so, recently, it was announced that Amazon would have access to NHS data that would allow Alexa to provide health care advice to citizens. The way this would likely work would be to take the existing NHS advice from their website, and codify it as responses to citizens. Many people would see this, perhaps, as a good thing, as it cuts-out the whole accessing the Web part. I would be imagined that it was a bit like scraping Web sites, and just responding to the questions on the site with the answers provided. Amazon would thus require a licence to scrap the site, and the were given this, in order to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies in health care.

But now it has been revealed that the licence also says that …

“Amazon gets access to “all healthcare information” gathered by NHS which can be used to create new products, which NHS would not benefit from financially, and be shared with third parties. “

This seems wrong on virtually every level. As someone who has been involved in digital methods and health care for more than a decade, I know how difficult it is to get access to any form of data within the NHS. And for SMEs it can be a tortuous route. I know of many SMEs who have left the health care market, as it is just so difficult to gain any form of traction. Large companies, too, often dominate and squeeze out any competitors to their virtual monopolies.

But, Amazon will have access. Where’s the openness in that? Where’s the protection of citizen rights? Where’s the debate that this is even a good thing? Who has investigated the ethics of this? How has reviewed the anonymization methods involved? If Amazon can get access, why not a small UK-based SME? Who decided it would be free of charge?

Amazon and Google are fast becoming global superpowers, and that is perhaps not a good thing for innovation and privacy. We need to support our SMEs, and allow them to innovate, and look for ways to improve health care.

If you are interested in improving the health of our citizens, there’s a great even on tomorrow in Glasgow:

Let innovation thrive in health care! Go hug a great SME, and tell Alexa to stop listening to everything that you say.