The "digital firebox"
The "digital firebox" is a long-term concept for a secure data store holding all the special category (or other) data on record about a person or household, indexed to the Unique Property Reference Number. The idea is that special category data would be accessible on an "as needed" basis to professionals in a variety of clearly defined roles for specific agreed purposes. For example:
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In the event of an emergency callout to the address, a curated sub-set of this information could be provided to firefighters, paramedics or the police. This kind of capability could have saved lives on the night of the Grenfell Tower fire. [Could it also provide emergency contact details when emergency services respond to a road traffic accident?]
Lawful basis: GDPR Art. 9 (2)(c) - vital interests
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The digital firebox could support multivariate analytics. For example, by combining special category data from the DWP, GP and local authority, a reporting tool could identify (for example) the number of households in an LSOA or ward with a resident aged 65+ (in receipt of state pension), diagnosed with a particular condition (from the GP record), and living alone (in receipt of single person discount for Council Tax). This level of detail could be invaluable for civil contingency planning or social care commissioning – and no single individual would be identifiable.
Lawful basis: GDPR Art. 9 (2)(h) (health and social care); Art. 89 (1) (statistical purposes)
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In other contexts, and with the right governance in place, the digital firebox could provide a single trustworthy view of someone’s circumstances and needs, as promoted by initiatives like SAVVI. This could support a range of interventions to benefit the person's wellbeing.
Lawful basis: GDPR Art. 9 (2)(h) (health and social care); Digital Economy Act, s.35.
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Social landlords could run a query on the UPRNs of all their properties to identify tenants with respiratory diagnoses held on their GP records. This could help them prioritise urgent remedial works to tackle damp and mould, in compliance with Awaab's law.
Lawful basis: needs clarification, but arguably this doesn't identify the person, just an address needing priority action
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In the longer term, with the right security and access controls in place, the digital firebox could give the person themselves a single point of reference to the information held about them, their care and support needs, and their home. This could be brokered through a trusted professional who would access the records with the person with their consent; or it could be accessed directly by the person via the gov.uk One Login. The person could, for example:
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check their own records for accuracy;
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correct or update records where appropriate (e.g. they could amend their communication needs but not their clinical diagnoses);
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see whether key information, e.g. communication needs or other 'About Me' content, has been shared across professionals/organisations as it should be;
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upload and update information about informal proxy roles (e.g. "I want any communications about medical appointments, housing repairs or my benefits to be made via my daughter"), and ensure that it is shared with the relevant organisations.
