The Nuffield Council on Bioethics have launched a new report about the ethical use of big data in health care and biomedical research.

With the generation of an increasing amount of health and biological data, the report considers issues of privacy and public interest and how developments in data science put pressure on conventional means of protecting privacy.

Professor Paul Matthews, Edmond and Lily Safra Chair and Head of the Division of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London is a member of the Working Party for the report.

Here he discusses how the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report was produced, why this subject needs addressing and what is meant by ‘big data’ in this context.

Using examples of big data projects that have raised issues around privacy and consent, such as the NHS care.data programme, he highlights some of the conclusions and recommendations of the report.

Responses to the consultation are available alongside the report on the Council’s website at http://nuffieldbioethics.org/project/biological-health-data/