Dr. Google will see you now
Dr. Google will see you now
They are collecting our medical records. I know this personally because an exgirlfriend of mine is a lawyer at Google and told me the same.
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So long as they're totally de-identified (not linkable to people), this is a good thing. Image a GPT that can diagnose you 10x as accurately as a human and 1000x faster. This can revolutionize medicine.
Generally, data science is evil and so is Google, but this needs to be done.
Dismounting soap box now.
That is a greater good argument, but who really benefits here? In a somewhat best case scenario, some big companies and their equity owners gain all the data and perhaps develop proprietary solutions only they can prescribe. We then sacrifice our collective health privacy for some people who might benefit if they pay an uncompetitive price for the treatment. In a worse case situation, no cures or treatments are ever found, but these companies benefit from the surveillance and knowing what existing drugs and treatments they should invest money in to profit from, allowing them to game the market.
If this data was held in the commons and the benefits such as cures or treatments were not patented, we might have some incentive to provide it. In this case, everything is privatized for the benefit of a few.
I believe there's potential for great benefit for everyone.
I also believe that if my records are used to innovate I should get a cut and get an opportunity to opt in or out. I should have agency. I don't like that I don't.
I still believe that this is, on balance, a good thing.
Notice that your if's are not part of this arrangement. You cannot opt out, and you do not get a cut of the opportunities created. The lawyers are Google ensure they get the benefit, and not us.