Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 21 January (HL127), whether the contract signed with Amazon to provide health data from the NHS specifies whether Amazon has liability for (1) the loss, (2) the destruction, (3) the corruption, (4) the desegregation, or (5) the damage, of health data.

No patient data is being shared with Amazon as part of this agreement. The collaboration with Amazon simply connects people to medically verified information on a range of different medical conditions, symptoms and treatments which is already freely available online through the National Health Service website. Use of Amazon Alexa is just an alternative mechanism for accessing that information.

The agreement with Amazon clearly stipulates that neither party is liable for any loss of data. The data referred to in this agreement is the medically verified NHS information that is already freely available on the NHS website. It does not concern patient data, as this is not being shared with Amazon. There is no significant risk for the NHS concerning the loss, destruction, corruption, desegregation or damage of this data.

This agreement with Amazon will help people manage their own healthcare more effectively, reaching a far greater number of citizens. This will enable people to take better control of their own healthcare needs, thereby potentially helping with prevention and early diagnosis.