GPDPR data scrape a 'mistake', says leading scientist:
Significant elements of the initially proposed General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR) programme to collect patient data from general practitioners in England to help improve frontline care in the NHS has been branded "wrong" and a "mistake" by one of the UK's most noted scientists.
The GPDPR programme was heavily criticised last year by privacy experts and others who said it presented an unacceptable level of security risk, and that the public had not been adequately informed of the plans.
Had it gone ahead in its initial form, the resulting database would have contained substantial amounts of personally identifiable information (PII) on millions of people, including diagnoses, symptoms, observations, test results, medications, allergies, immunisations, referrals, recalls and appointments.
It would also have included information on physical, mental and sexual health, data on gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, and data on staff who have treated patients.
However, it was ultimately put on ice following the outcry that caused large numbers of people to exercise their right to opt out.
Giving evidence this week before the parliamentary Science and Technology Select Committee on the findings of his review into the use of health data for research and analysis, Ben Goldacre, professor of evidence-based medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford, said it had been a mistake to try to launch such an enormous programme without making it clear to the public what safeguards would be put in place.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @07:25PM (13 children)
>> It would also have included information on physical, mental and sexual health, data on gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation
Their programmers couldn't keep up with all the newly-developed genders.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @08:08PM (11 children)
It's time to eliminate the word and concept "gender" from all of society.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @08:22PM (2 children)
Absolutely... then we can go back to having male and female based on actual genetics.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Michael on Tuesday May 17 2022, @11:21PM
We can't "go back" to something we never had. The first approximations left over from prehistory that the anti-science rwnj crowd seem obsessed with don't fully represent the biology (be it genetics, morphology or endocrinology).
As soon as we had the technology to interrogate the biochemistry of dna (actually a bit before that was fully realised), it was obvious that some people weren't xx or xy.
The morphological range of primary sexual characteristics not being a simple binary were obvious way, way before that.
The endocrinology landscape was charted more recently, and that process is probably not yet complete, but already shows a significant range of extant developmental configurations.
So your over-simplified understanding of the subject cannot be reconciled with observed facts of physical reality. Which has been the situation since antiquity.
Put down the bible / fox news and pick up a book for further details.
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Friday May 20 2022, @04:32PM
it is always the AC thats the raging bigot. Too much of a coward to take responsibility for their bigotry.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @08:24PM (7 children)
Gender was synonymous with sex [etymonline.com] in general usage and (from Old French "to bring forth") the reproductive sex role in correct usage. Dr John Money invented the current misusage when he claimed, without evidence, "Gender Identity" and biological sex were unrelated. [reduxx.info] A correct characterization of Money's failed experiments may be "Gender Lysenkoism".
(Score: 3, Informative) by HiThere on Tuesday May 17 2022, @11:16PM (2 children)
In French rivers are masculine. Perhaps you need to reconsider your assertion.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2022, @01:29PM (1 child)
"la rivière" is masculine? You must be one of those confused transvestites that have trouble with actual facts.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday May 19 2022, @12:45AM
Sorry, You're correct. French rivers are feminine. It's German rivers that are masculine. But it's still "gender isn't sex".
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Michael on Tuesday May 17 2022, @11:31PM (3 children)
There's one system of models optimised for the representation of physical reality, and it isn't etymology.
Your false dichotomy is neither here nor there. (If that's a pun, it's intended.)
They don't have to be 100% deterministic or 100% unrelated, despite what the extremists on both sides may insist.
Where physical characteristics are easily categorised into binary groups (which they aren't always), those characteristics strongly influence, but _do not_ definitively determine identity.
Insisting all shades of grey are either black or white is outright feeble-mindedness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2022, @12:57AM (2 children)
Etymology does, however, tell us when a psychopath like Dr Money has misused or invented words or phrases for the sole purpose of misleading the feeble minded. The problem with lying is that the lies stack up and what remains is an incoherent, nonsensical and self-contradictory mess. If you'd like a real world example, consider this ACLU filing. [squarespace.com]
Laughably, the ACLU deny homo-sapiens are a sexually dimorphic species or that men and women have different anatomy, genitalia and physical characteristics. Keep these points in mind.
How else could they possibly be transgender women?
The word cisgender is another invented word. Firstly implying gender is assigned rather than observed at birth (as in almost 100% of births) and secondly providing a linguistic alternative to "normal" (since that would imply transgenderism were abnormal). The transferees in this case are male.
Intersex isn't an "identity", it's not adopted, it's a birth condition. Coke, in his Institutes of the Lawes of England [wikipedia.org] suggested "hermaphrodites" should be considered male or female in accord with prevailing characteristics. But I refer you back to point 34 - if men and women are not different then there can be no nonbinary or intersex "identity" and no such thing as transgenderism. The ACLU are making false assertions that effectively deny the very existence of the people they claim to support. It's almost as if the ACLU and their clients in this legal intervention are impaired in terms of intellectual ability. Feeble minded indeed!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Michael on Wednesday May 18 2022, @03:20AM (1 child)
If someone or some group is exaggerating to the point of absurdity, the antidote is _not_ being absurd in the opposite direction.
"Almost 100%" is no reason to persecute the few percent and try to hammer them into a square hole.
Especially unpleasant, and especially common among the rwnjs who specialise in that type of logic, is applying it to as many minorities as they can think of until the little bits add up to nearly everyone who isn't pretty much identical to themself.
Reality, including biology and identity, is complicated. If you can't cope with that you're a useless bigot, and should leave the thinking to the grown-ups.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 18 2022, @09:11PM
The reality part isn't so complicated when we use clear, concise and correct language. That's the point; psychosis rather than "nonconsensus realities". [nitter.net] What is to be achieved by pretending that renaming auditory hallucinations as a "reality" isn't delusional?
Who is doing that? There's a reason for my ambiguity. It's 98.3% when you include conditions not traditionally medically recognized as intersex. [nih.gov] If you disagree with "almost 100%", which square hole would you hammer people into for the purposes of classification?
Your type of logic!
Rejecting delusional thinking and the cynical perversion of language is not bigotry. [etymonline.com] If my doing so offends the sanctimony of your beliefs enough for you to engage in a display of intolerance and begin leveling unfounded insults, the bigot is you!
Growing up is learning not to be manipulated by narcissistic bullies and abusers. In humans, the adult male role is that of provider and protector. In a civil society, the latter role is performed with clear forceful language to expose exactly who the abusers are, their tactics and their motivations. There is no legitimate reason to object to anyone calling out Dr John Money and other psychopathic perverts. [reduxx.info]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @11:21PM
Pretty shitty programmers that can't handle a list smaller than US states. You ok brah?
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday May 17 2022, @10:12PM
"Um, I didn't mean to!" Promise? "yes yes I promise, it was a grad student" A grad student? Under your supervision? "yes yes, I encourage my students to think outside the box". So this 'outside the box grad student' was not working under your orders? "no no no, they went completely off script"
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17 2022, @10:30PM
we need infinite free energy and warp drives before we can be sure that medical records made public aren't misused ... for profit.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday May 18 2022, @01:27AM
Hurt or sick animals are easy prey. To survive, they will hide, try to fake wellness, and/or try to move normally even if that makes things worse.
People are still animals. And, even though we have achieved apex predator status, some people still prey upon others. It never does to show weakness if that can be avoided. For instance, a friend of mine who was living in an apartment complex revealed to the landlord that he'd hurt his back a month before the lease was up for renewal. The landlord raised his rent to the max. Can't prove that the landlord was taking advantage of the knowledge about the hurt back, but it seems likely. We helped him move.
These ideas to keep lots of health data have to be mindful of the ways the info can be exploited. Yeah, great to have lots of data to use to improve health care, but the people who want to make those data repositories are sometimes a little too naive and idealistic. May be young, and have never personally experienced serious illness or injury. Might do wonders for their attitudes to experience some temporary disability, with others taking advantage of their conditions.