Google and a massive hospital system are reportedly collecting private health data on millions of Americans in secret

Reuters

• Google has teamed up with the hospital system Ascension to collect personal health information on millions of Americans, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Data such as lab results and hospital records were compiled for millions of patients, the Journal reported.
• The initiative by Google and Ascension is called "Project Nightingale," the newspaper said.
• Neither patients or doctors have been notified, and at least 150 Google employees have access to the patients' data.
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Google has teamed up with the massive Ascension hospital system to collect detailed personal health information from millions of Americans without their knowledge, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The data collection initiative is called "Project Nightingale," people familiar with the matter said and internal documents show, the Journal's Rob Copeland reported.

The data includes lab results, diagnoses, and hospital records, and provides detailed information on peoples' health histories. According to The Wall Street Journal, neither patients nor doctors were notified, and at least 150 Google employees have access to the data.

Google is using the patient data to tune artifical intelligence software that may help improve patient care, according to the report. Tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are all working to expand in the $3.5 trillion US healthcare industry with offerings ranging from cloud services and AI to hardware and even patient care.

Google told The Wall Street Journal that the project complies with federal laws and that patient privacy is protected.

Google and Ascension didn't respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Ascension is one of the biggest health systems in the US, with about 150 hospitals. The health system generated about $25 billion in operating revenue last year.

Want to tell us about your experience with Google in healthcare? Email lramsey@businessinsider.com

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