Richard (OldStager) Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 This is something completely new to me, and as I have been visiting the GP's almost everyday for the last week or so, this afternoon a message was sent to my phone asking me to sign up to this Patchs thing. Anyone else with them ? , only I'm not happy about 3rd party companies having my personal data. If the M.O.D can get hacked what chance does a 3rd party company having teamed up with the NHS have ?. Comments please. Thank you. https://www.patchs.ai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 It’s reached the stage where it’s largely impractical to avoid having our personal data spread far and wide and risk being hacked. Even the most supposedly safe and secure places clearly aren’t either of those things. My former employer got hacked a while back, along with a bunch of other big players, due to one of their contractors getting compromised. They gave me a free account on Experien so I could see if anything nasty happened as a consequence, but that was it. I’m still waiting for Experien to get hacked Any additional presence increases the risk, but I’ve pretty much taken the view that the ship has sailed and there is no going back. Doesn’t stop me being as careful as I can be of course, but I don’t let it get in my way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 Hmmm, goes against all I believe in , however this new group appear to be no more than a go between for appointments etc, I know the NHS are on their knees, but have they got so bad they can't even handle taking appointments now ?. Together with the message yesterday was a missed phone call, I rang it back and an automated message said they would call ME back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 @Richard (OldStager) if you have an iPhone then chances are Apple already know everything about you. If you use Amazon ditto. I once even caught Amazon out sharing some of my data with Google. I'm a bit paranoid about it too, but unfortunately it's a fact of life these days. I just ensure that I use two-factor authorisation everywhere. Really annoys me that these huge corporations can track you without ever specifically asking permission to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 It's not my address or bank card details ( I have no money LOL) I am concerned with, we all have to part with those just to function today , its my medical history being known to those outside the NHS, why should they know I have ... well many issues going on. Only the NHS should know that NOT some 3rd party company whom I don't particularly trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 If it's in the NHS app then they'll likely have it already. Although I haven't come across this one at all - the one I use is called Patient Access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 I don't use that either for the reasons given, I may be just being over cautious but still not happy with 3rd party companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 It's an interesting conundrum. Hacking to one side just for a moment... As far as huge corporations tracking "you", they do ask permission. It's in the Ts and Cs that no-one reads and we all just tick "I agree". "External" companies having access to medical information? Been going on for decades. What has changed is that to make the NHS more efficient (HA) a lot of it is now accessible. For me personally though, do I care that anyone can find out about my third eye, ingrowing toenail, kidney stones or whatever? No. I'm not so important that anyone else is going to care about my medical status. I suspect there are very few of us that fall into that category where medical knowledge leads to coercion or blackmail. Back to hacking. Big companies, and sometimes small companies, can be targets of hackers. The data discovered can be used to target individuals or the company as a whole, HOWEVER... the method of attack that we as individuals are most likely to succumb to is an email with a dodgy link. Clicking it and filling in forms or inadvertently downloading malware isn't really a hack in and of itself. The fact that our email address made it to a bad actor could be the result of a hack further upstream. And of course we all get dodgy emails from time to time. It a fact of life, like speed cameras. If anyone wants to check up on their exposure levels, or check for compromised emails and passwords have a look at https://haveibeenpwned.com/ As mentioned earlier, where possible use two factor authentication for emails, Amazon and anywhewre that might have payment details saved. For storing usernames and passwords, and for generating paswords I have used both Bitwarden and Keeper. Both are free and can be used across all devices. I was never sure about password vaults until I worked somethwere where the MINIMUM password lenghth was 32 characters. Both Keeper and Bitwarden can be used to generate random passwords and I find that feature very useful indeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Yes, on the whole you are correct, I just worry ( perhaps needlessly) about further down the road as it were. Where many companies have all the data on you that both your medical and personal details are no longer yours but traded freely on the net. There has been a further development regarding this Patchs group which until I find out more I won't post about, but I do have a phone call booked with them in the morning, so depending on how that goes I may post what it was about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 I find it interesting that the supposed underfunded NHS can afford AI... Companies having publicly available info is unavoidable, and I expect anyone I deal with to look for me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Wanting to maintain my privacy as best I can is why I don't use "normal" social media, and I never will, and the vast majority of searchers won't go much beyond those three, and maybe LinkedIn. Don't use that either... Companies having medical info would raise an eyebrow. Should a "corporate" person ask about specifics, or should I become aware they have specifics, my first question would be to ask if the information was both legally and ethically gathered, and see how that goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Yeah, I don't do the usual social media either, who wants to see someone else's breakfast goodness me, the only thing I do use is YT, which only has my email and false DOB and username. The Patchs thing I may have over reacted to, but as I say until tomorrow I won't know if that is true or not. ETA, funny to see the forum censored an acronym, and replaced it with goodness me, funny that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Four ducks sake... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 I will have to remember that one, thanks. And how did you know that was what I put as the acronym ?, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 18 minutes ago, Richard (OldStager) said: I will have to remember that one, thanks. And how did you know that was what I put as the acronym ?, lol. I can read between the censored lines... And for the benefit of the thread, it looks to me like Patchs is a paid for healthcare provider, so very much not free or part of the NHS per se... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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