US Senators Criticize Trump Administration's Health Data Demands for Lifesaving Aid

The US Trump administration's demands for access to foreign health data as a condition for lifesaving aid have been criticized by eight Democratic senators.

The senators, including minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, have written a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing their concerns over the administration's approach to foreign health data. They argue that the demands are "unprecedented and at odds with U.S. policy concerning the data of American citizens."

The senators' concerns stem from a ProPublica story published in June about agreements the US struck with African countries. Experts told ProPublica that the deals are vague and lack language used in most data-sharing agreements to adequately limit what information is collected and how it can be used.

The senators have requested a briefing on the healthcare agreements' data requirements and have asked Rubio to respond in writing to a list of questions by the end of August.

The Trump administration's demands for access to foreign health data are part of the America First Global Health Strategy, which aims to make America "more prosperous" and "promote American health innovations."

Privacy experts say that if health data is mishandled under the agreements, it could have serious consequences. Revealing healthcare histories, including whether someone has had an abortion, a mental health condition, substance-use treatment, or a sexually transmitted disease can be devastating anywhere.

In Africa, research has shown that revealing healthcare histories can lead to discrimination and violence.

The US agreement with Uganda provides up to $1.7 billion in aid for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, among other diseases. As a condition, the deal calls for the sharing of aggregated data with all personally identifiable information removed and specifies that the information should be used for delivering and auditing healthcare services.

However, experts told ProPublica that it is possible to reverse-engineer data that have been anonymized.

The shift in the approach to health data is part of the America First Global Health Strategy, which is intended to make America "more prosperous" and "promote American health innovations."

The State Department has declined to answer specific questions about the senators' letter, saying that it does not respond to questions about congressional correspondence.

In a statement sent to ProPublica, a State Department spokesperson defended the data requirements in the health agreements. The spokesperson said that neither the US government nor any private American companies receive or review any personally identifiable information (PII) under these data sharing agreements.

The spokesperson also said that the new deals "share only the same kinds of aggregated, de-identified data that has been shared and used for years in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases. All data sharing is consistent with each country's laws and approvals."

The spokesperson also said that no country has been coerced to sign the agreements with the US.

The senators have also asked what privacy rights foreign citizens will have over data that is transferred to the US and how those rights will be enforced in the case of a data breach or another unethical use of their personal information.

The effort to establish these new aid arrangements was led by Brad Smith, an entrepreneur who founded three healthcare companies, one of which sold for a reported $2.7 billion. Before joining the State Department, Smith led the government efficiency panel that would become the Department of Government Efficiency and oversaw some $67 billion in cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The shift in the approach to health data is part of the America First Global Health Strategy, which is intended to make America "more prosperous" and "promote American health innovations.