59 pc of people surveyed about Digital Health ID do not want personal data shared

New Delhi: As much as 59 per cent of respondents favoured availing ‘Digital Health ID’ to be created under the Centre’s National Digital Health Mission, but they do not want to share sensitive personal data beyond health and medical records, a recent survey said.

The survey was conducted by LocalCircles, a community social media platform.

According to the survey, 23 per cent respondents supported creating the health ID, saying it could help get faster access to healthcare. While 18 per cent said it should not be created at all, as it could lead to personal sensitive data getting compromised.

Around 9,000 people responded to the question on whether Digital Health ID should be created under the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), the social media platform said.

Around 34,000 responses were received on four questions related to the draft National Health Data Management Policy, which proposes to create Digital Health IDs for all Indians.

“Around 8,600 responses were received on the question of how and where people’s Digital Health ID data should be stored to which 57 per cent said the data should be collected only on health information and that it should be stored at the central level. Respondents also wanted authorisation to be required for the use of the health data by any health facility, the survey said.

When asked whether they would agree to making aggregate or anonymised data of people available to external agencies for the purpose of research or promotion of diagnostic solutions, 48 per cent respondents said they did not approve of it, while 45 per cent said they were ‘okay’ with it and 6 per cent were unsure.

LocalCircles General Manager Akshay Gupta said the survey results would be submitted to key stakeholders associated with the Digital Health ID initiative, so that citizen inputs could be given due regard as the government lays out the blueprint of the initiative.

To safeguard confidential health data collected from people under NDHM, the government has proposed a framework and a set of minimum standards for data privacy protection to be followed across the board in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

The National Health Authority (NHA), the central agency responsible for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and mandated to design and roll out NDHM in the country, has released the draft ‘Health Data Management Policy’ in the public domain.

The document has been put up on the official website of NDHM seeking comments and feedback from the public. The dateline of consultation has been extended till September 21.

The ambitious NDHM programme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.

As per the draft proposal, everyone enrolled for the mission will get a Health ID free of cost and will have complete control over his or her individual personal data.

Any personal data can be collected only with the consent of the individual and people will be allowed to revoke their consent for the same, the draft proposal claimed.

In the case of the Aadhaar card, proposed to have been a national identity card, such promises were made too. However, there have been several reported instances of data breach as well as non-citizens having been granted Aadhaar, and on the other hand the poorest of the poor who were to benefit from having Aadhaar being denied rations and left to starve.