Centralising health

could change the way the health data of Indians is stored and shared, the NITI Aayog has proposed a National Health Stack (NHS)—a centralised health identity for all citizens. The aim is "to streamline the health information and facilitate its effective management", the Aayog said while releasing a consultation paper. The Health IDs created will be "linked to a strong foundational ID" such as Aadhaar, according to the paper. The NHS would store personal health records and service provider records on cloud-based services using the internet, and will employ technology like big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and a state-of-the-art policy markup language. This sensitive health data, the paper says, will be stored in a "secure and private environment, with the individual determining rights of access". With the debate over Aadhaar refusing to die down, creation of NHS raises further questions on data privacy.