Google’s Tangled Data Web

After news broke recently of a “data partnership” between Google and Ascension Health, a large Catholic healthcare system, many were outraged (but probably not surprised). 

According to Google, the partnership is designed to deliver better healthcare to patients. But most who heard the news were a bit skeptical. After all, big tech really hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt. 

This week Congress sent a letter to Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, seeking more information about how patient data is stored. This comes on the heels of an investigative report that Google interferes with its search algorithms in response to pressure from businesses, interest groups, and governments around the world. 

The web becomes even more tangled.