‘Open Banking’ moves to health with ‘Open Life’ to address public concerns over commercial use of personal health-relevant data.

Today, the All-Parliamentary Group for Longevity (APPGL) publishes the Open Life Data Framework, with Rt Hon George Freeman MP, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation speaking at the launch.  The report can be accessed here.

Longevity.Technology: The consent-based trustworthy framework, first introduced in The Lancet, was developed with contributions from over 100 experts and organisations including Health Foundation, NHSX, Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, Ada Lovelace Institute, National Data Guardian, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the CBI.  Its goal is to create the enabling conditions for public and private sector actors to share data for public benefit while unlocking innovation to increase healthy life expectancy by 5 years while minimising health inequalities (‘HLE+5’).

The Framework will help researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurs work out what ‘health-relevant data’, outside of the NHS and care system such as shopping, financial and environmental data furnishes the most insight into helping the most disadvantaged individuals keep healthy while enhancing overall health resilience at a population health level.  It will also stimulate the marketplace for health and wellbeing solutions and advance healthy longevity research and practice.

Rt Hon George Freeman MP, Science, Research and Innovation Minister, says: “This report highlights how better capturing and sharing population health data is key to both policymaking for disease prevention and health longevity, better healthcare services and stimulating medtech innovation. That’s why as Minister for Life Science at DHSC & now Minister for Science, Research & Innovation at BEIS I’m committed to accelerating UK digital health and am delighted to support the vital work of the APPG to help define the metrics to enable ESG investment in healthier growth.”

Gavin Starks, CEO of Dgen.net and co-author of the report told Longevity.Technology: “As our digital world expands exponentially around us, we must take steps to both protect our rights and enable our data to deliver better outcomes. This framework aims to put control of data generated in the commercial sector in the hands of the user, while facilitating trust across the data ecosystem to unlock innovation, value and impact for everyone.”

Longevity.Technology also reached out to Tina Woods, Founder and CEO of Collider Health and report co-author, who told us: “The Framework comes at a time when the public needs reassurance that their data will be used fairly and ethically to enhance their health and provide public benefit.  It will also show how the goals of reducing health inequalities while supporting firms to innovate and grow are not are mutually exclusive.”

We would agree; our soon-to-be released report on Aging In Place details how a survey conducted by us and Age of Majority found an alarming 76% of respondents do not trust that their personal data will be kept safe as technology advances. It is, therefore, reassuring that the British Government is addressing these concerns with this Framework.

Images courtesy of Tina Woods