---
title: "Google Is Secretly Hoarding Your Medical Records"
description: "Google is secretly working with one of the biggest healthcare systems in the U.S. to collect personal medical records from millions of Americans."
date: "2019-11-11"
modified: "2019-11-15"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/google-project-nightingale-medical-records"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Developments"
  - "Google"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Medical"
tags:
  - "data privacy"
  - "Google"
  - "healthcare"
---

# Google Is Secretly Hoarding Your Medical Records

![Google is secretly working with one of the biggest healthcare systems in the U.S. to collect personal medical records from millions of Americans.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/google-project-nightingale-medical-records.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

Google is secretly working with one of the biggest healthcare systems in the U.S. to collect and analyze personal health data from millions of Americans, [*The Wall Street Journal* reports](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-s-secret-project-nightingale-gathers-personal-health-data-on-millions-of-americans-11573496790?mod=djemalertNEWS>).

The megacorporation is reportedly using the data to train machine learning algorithms to suggest changes to individuals' healthcare. It's a far-reaching project that has the potential to threaten the privacy of millions of people — but the tech giant claims it's both aboveboard and safe.

Google has been working with the health system Ascension since 2018, according to the *WSJ*. The data collected includes things like hospitalization records, names, dates of birth, and everything from lab tests to diagnoses.

The *WSJ* claims Google has told neither patients nor doctors about the project, despite collecting data on tens of millions of patients.

Under the current privacy law provisions called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the sharing of such data is technically legal, but only when it's used to "help" a patient "carry out its health care functions," according to the *WSJ*'s analysis.

A spokeswoman for Google told the *WSJ* that "Project Nightingale" complies with health law and provides sufficient data protection.

But Google already has a tarnished track record: just last year, [the company failed](<https://futurism.com/google-plus-privacy-bug>) to disclose a massive Google Plus-related [private user data leak](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-exposed-user-data-feared-repercussions-of-disclosing-to-public-1539017194?tesla=y&mod=e2fb&ns=prod/accounts-wsj>) until months after the fact.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)