EU law on health data is a gift to Big Tech

The European Health Data Space under negotiation would turn people's health data into profits for American technology companies.

This month and next, European Union member states and the European Parliament are holding “tripartite talks” negotiations on the proposed creation of a European Health Data Space (EHDS), with the aim of reaching a political agreement before the European elections in June. There is. Central to the proposal is a standardized language and infrastructure for healthcare providers across the EU to collect and process patient health data in digital records, such as medical information, test results and prescriptions.

These data are used not only for the primary treatment of patients, but also for secondary purposes such as scientific research, policy making, and the development of products and services by companies. The proposal also aims to create a single market for digital health products and services, such as electronic records systems and “telehealth” applications.

Enabling EU nationals to more easily access their health data and allowing data to be digitally exchanged more efficiently between health care providers would bring significant benefits to health systems and prevent duplication of professional work. . Secondary use of digital health data offers great opportunities to develop better health policies and new drugs and treatments.

roll out the red carpet

However, the proposal would see the EU roll out the red carpet to technology companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, which are becoming increasingly active in digital healthcare. EHDS offers Big Tech an unprecedented opportunity to expand its influence over healthcare providers, governments, and patients, and to extend its already worryingly large market power. This proposal stands in stark contrast to efforts to contain its excessive powers and associated threats to Europe's economy and democracy through new EU laws such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.

For Big Tech, healthcare is a huge source of invaluable data that can be converted into potential revenue. And technology companies have been aggressively pursuing related acquisitions, partnerships and patent applications in recent years. Take, for example, Google's acquisition of consumer electronics and fitness company Fitbit in 2019 ($2.1 billion) and Microsoft's acquisition of artificial intelligence voice company Nuance Communications in 2021 ($19.7 billion). .

Meanwhile, the number of healthcare-related patents that Big Tech has registered to lock in its intellectual property has rapidly increased. The companies also have dozens of partnerships with teaching hospitals and healthcare providers, particularly in the United States. Controversial cases include Project Nightingale, in which the medical data of tens of millions of U.S. citizens reached Google without their knowledge or consent through a partnership with healthcare provider Ascension .

perfect platform

The EHDS proposal would encourage Big Tech to increase its influence over Europe's economy and health systems in at least two ways. First, any company would be allowed to request access to medical data for research purposes, but Big Tech, with its monopoly on AI and cloud storage space, stands to benefit most. It can then patent products and services developed using the health data of European citizens, and then charge those same citizens higher prices.

This is a familiar pattern in the pharmaceutical industry, where expensive drugs are often developed through publicly funded research. Although Big Tech conducts nearly all of its healthcare research in collaboration with academic institutions, more than 99 percent of the resulting patent applications are filed solely by corporations.

Secondly, EHDS is the perfect platform for Big Tech to become the inevitable supplier of digital infrastructure for storing and exchanging patient data to the thousands of European healthcare providers that need to comply with the system. Create a. For example, in cloud storage, where Amazon, Microsoft, and Google hold a combined 65% market share, there is little escape. In the Netherlands, an estimated three-quarters of all general practitioners' patient records are stored on Amazon's servers, while France's medical data hub relies on Microsoft for the digital infrastructure needed to exchange data. .

In the absence of competition, these companies are free to raise the prices they charge providers of their products and services. Additionally, Big Tech's market power allows them to gain significant influence over the design of critical digital health infrastructure, health systems, and public health policies at the expense of the voices of patients, health professionals, and policy makers. Become.

The next frontier of growth

Negotiators in the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union could, at least in part, prevent healthcare from becoming Big Tech's next growth frontier. EHDS should set clear rules for reciprocity. This means that the benefits of innovations developed with the help of European health data, including medicines and other health products, should be returned to society, including at a fair price level. And European citizens should have a say in decision-making about who their health data is made available to and under what conditions.

Meanwhile, governments need to invest in public digital health infrastructure rather than relying on private companies. And EU market regulators need to act consistently against Big Tech's monopolistic market positions in the interest of economies and societies that work for people, not profits.