Two Danish regions shared children's health data with American AI; lawyers suddenly got busy

Region Sjælland and Region Hovedstaden used children's health data in an AI trial at Danish hospitals, and the data went to an American AI tool. Parents have reacted with outrage that data on vulnerable children was used without their knowledge. Several experts say the use broke data protection rules.

Both regions have insisted from the start that the use was lawful. Ingeniøren, a Danish technology outlet, now reports that a large sum of money and an urgent request to lawyers are undermining the regions' explanation of why the use of the AI tool was legal. Experts judge that the explanation is likely to collapse. The regions are not commenting.

The report belongs to a series on the case. Related headlines from the same outlet describe an internal email that reportedly shows executives were warned the AI system was "illegal" and kept sharing Danish patient data anyway. They also say the AI had access to more than 100,000 messages containing confidential data about Danish patients, that parents of sick children were told nothing about the trial, and that a large investigation of the "illegal" AI trial has begun. One parent is quoted saying she fears what has been shared about her child.

The main article is behind a paywall, so details such as the amount of money, the identity of the AI tool and the lawyers' exact role are not available here.

The case matters because it involves confidential health data on children, a legal justification that experts doubt, and regional health authorities that so far decline to explain themselves.