"into academia where there is no AtoI/FOIA requirements"
As a general statement, this is incorrect: in the UK (where OpenSAFELY operates) Universities are considered "public authorities" under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and people have a right to request access to information that they hold.
Also, the OpenSAFELY team are actually all honorary employees of NHS England as part of the Information Governance for the project. Thus AIUI we are beholden to their policies and obligations regarding FOIA.
And nearly everything except the patient data is public anyway!
Also, the actual data is held by the GP system suppliers, who have their own FOIA obligations.
Comments
As a general statement, this is incorrect: in the UK (where OpenSAFELY operates) Universities are considered "public authorities" under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and people have a right to request access to information that they hold.
Also, the OpenSAFELY team are actually all honorary employees of NHS England as part of the Information Governance for the project. Thus AIUI we are beholden to their policies and obligations regarding FOIA.
And nearly everything except the patient data is public anyway!
Also, the actual data is held by the GP system suppliers, who have their own FOIA obligations.