Healthcare Data: The New Oil Or Tomorrow’s Asbestos?

Medical data's immense value is matched only by its potential for catastrophic harm. In Asia's burgeoning digital health sector, a quiet revolution is unfolding. Every telemedicine consultation, digital prescription, and health monitoring app generates streams of deeply personal medical data. This information holds unprecedented promise for advancing healthcare and developing life-saving treatments. Yet beneath this digital transformation lies a troubling question: are we building the foundation for revolutionary healthcare advances, or creating tomorrow's privacy catastrophe? The comparison to oil isn't hyperbolic. Health data possesses many characteristics that made petroleum the most valuable commodity of the industrial age. It's incredibly valuable when processed, becomes more powerful when aggregated at scale, and can fuel entire industries. The global health analytics market is projected to reach USD 84 billion by 2027. Across Asia, where digital health markets are experiencing double-digit growth, this data represents a potential goldmine for innovation and economic growth. The transformative potential is already being realised. AI systems trained on vast medical datasets can diagnose certain cancers more accurately than human radiologists. Predictive algorithms identify patients at risk of heart attacks days before symptoms appear. Drug discovery processes that once took decades are being compressed into years. For countries across Asia grappling with healthcare challenges, ageing populations, and varying medical infrastructure, data-driven solutions offer hope for leapfrogging traditional delivery models. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated Asia's embrace of digital health solutions. From Singapore's national digital health initiatives to South Korea's contact tracing systems, Asian countries demonstrated both the potential and risks of large-scale health data collection. Platforms processing millions of consultations monthly have created unprecedented repositories that could revolutionise our understanding of disease patterns and inform public health policy. But here's where the asbestos analogy becomes relevant. Like the miracle building material that promised strength before its devastating consequences became apparent, healthcare data's benefits may come with hidden costs that only become clear in retrospect. Medical information is perhaps the most sensitive personal data imaginable, encompassing genetic predispositions, mental health histories, reproductive choices, and lifestyle behaviours that people prefer to keep private even from family members. The risks are already materialising. Health data breaches have exposed millions of patient records globally, revealing psychiatric treatments, fertility struggles, and substance abuse histories. Unlike financial data, which can be changed after a breach, medical information is permanent. A leaked mental health diagnosis or genetic predisposition cannot be undone, and consequences can persist for decades through insurance discrimination, employment decisions, and social stigma. Asian healthcare startups and established players are accumulating vast troves of this sensitive information, often with insufficient safeguards. Many health apps request broad permissions to access medical records, location data, and camera access, creating surveillance opportunities that extend far beyond healthcare needs. Consent processes are frequently inadequate, with patients clicking through lengthy terms without understanding how their health information will be used or shared. The economic incentives create additional concerns. While oil companies extract petroleum from the ground, health tech companies extract value from human vulnerability. Patients seeking healthcare often have little choice but to share their most private information, creating an inherently coercive dynamic. Health information is generated during moments of vulnerability when patients focus on treatment rather than privacy implications. The regulatory landscape across Asia is struggling to keep pace. While some countries have implemented comprehensive frameworks, others operate with outdated regulations. The patchwork of regulatory approaches creates complexity and potential gaps. International experiences offer sobering lessons: genetic testing companies have shared DNA information with law enforcement without consent, health insurers have used wearable device data to adjust premiums, and employers have accessed employee health information for hiring decisions. The concentration of health data in a few large platforms creates systemic risks. When a single company processes millions of health records across multiple Asian markets, a security breach can affect enormous populations spanning different jurisdictions. Health data represents a strategic asset that could be leveraged for economic or political purposes in regions with diverse political systems and varying digital sovereignty. Yet abandoning the digital health revolution isn't realistic. The potential benefits for improving outcomes, reducing costs, and expanding access are too significant. The challenge lies in developing frameworks that capture health data while minimising misuse risks. Promising approaches are emerging: federated learning allows AI training without centralising information, differential privacy adds mathematical noise that preserves utility while protecting privacy, and blockchain systems could give patients greater control. Asian healthcare companies have an opportunity to lead globally in developing privacy-preserving technologies. By building privacy protection from the ground up, they could create competitive advantages in markets increasingly concerned about data governance. Japan and Singapore are already positioning themselves as leaders in privacy-preserving health innovation. Healthcare data represents one of the defining challenges of the digital age. Like oil, it has the potential to fuel innovation and growth. Like asbestos, it carries risks that could harm millions if not properly managed. The decisions we make today will determine whether future generations thank us for revolutionising healthcare or condemn us for creating new forms of digital harm. The answer isn't predetermined: it depends on the choices we make right now about privacy, consent, and corporate responsibility. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.