Project Nightingale: The Google-Ascension partnership

By Sascha Matuszak

Sascha Matuszak (Sascha.matuszak@corporatecompliance.org) is a reporter at SCCE & HCCA in Minneapolis, MN.

On November 11, the Wall Street Journal reported (https://on.wsj.com/2CELyar)[1] that Alphabet Inc’s Google had formed a partnership with Ascension, a Catholic chain of 2,600 hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other facilities, code named Project Nightingale. The project involves Google setting up a cloud-based database for Ascension that collects, organizes, and displays patient data in order to streamline medical services and help Ascension gain a quick overview of a particular patient’s needs.

The WSJ story caused an immediate backlash, with media outlets questioning how Google could gain access to so much private medical data, and ethics and privacy professionals wonder if the partnership could be a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (http://bit.ly/33Krsax).[2] Patients were not informed of the partnership, and the WSJ article claims that doctors were also not notified.

“My experience with these data mongers is that they only see the beauty of the technical aspects: gathering, analyzing and then dreaming up revenues from the use of the data,” said Marianne Jennings, Professor Emeritus at the W.P. Carey School of Business. “They are amoral technicians who see data as data, not the personal information of an individual.”[3]

“The names and dates of birth in their gathering really are troublesome,” she added. “You do not need that information for figuring out treatments.”

This document is only available to subscribers. Please log in or purchase access.
Purchase Login
 


Would you like to read this entire article?

If you already subscribe to this publication, just log in. If not, let us send you an email with a link that will allow you to read the entire article for free. Just complete the following form.

* required field

First name field cannot be blank!
Last name field cannot be blank!
We will send you an email that will give you access to this entire article.
Email field cannot be blank!
Enter a valid email!
Company field cannot be blank!
Enter a valid company!
Title field cannot be blank!

We're committed to your privacy. The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) & Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) uses the information you provide us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy.


About SCCE

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) is a non-profit, member-based professional association. SCCE supports our members' work with education, news, and discussion forums. We are a community of leaders, defining and shaping the corporate compliance environment across a wide range of industries and geographic regions. In developing and maintaining effective ethics and compliance programs, our members strengthen and protect their companies.

952.933.4977

About HCCA

The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), is a 501(c)6 non-profit, member-based professional association. HCCA was established in 1996 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. We provide training, certification, and other resources to over 10,000 members. Our members include compliance officers and staff from a wide range of organizations, including hospitals, research facilities, clinics and technology service providers.

952.988.0141

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Copyright © 2024 by Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) & Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). No claim to original US Government works. All rights reserved. All information provided through this site, including without limitation all information such as the “look and feel” of the site, data files, graphics, text, photographs, drawings, logos, images, sounds, music, video or audio files on this site, is owned and/or licensed by SCCE & HCCA or its suppliers and is subject to United States and international copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. Any third party logos and/or content provided herein is owned by such third parties and is used by permission herein. Your use of this site to is subject to our Terms Of Use and Privacy Statement.
Cookie settings