Using anonymized NHS data without consent: a step too far?

On 5 December 2011, the Government announced that NHS data will be made more widely available to researchers (BBC News, 2011). David Cameron suggested that 'everyone was to be a research patient' (BBC News, 2011) with anonymized NHS patient data being opened up to researchers in the private sector as well as the NHS. The proposals envisaged that all such data is opened up to researchers unless patients opt out. This article explores the relationship between patient privacy, confidentiality and the public interest, and asks whether anonymization is simply enough or whether we need a broader debate as to what constitutes disclosure in the public interest and its boundaries.