NHS: Data Protection
Commons · Question 16702 · Tabled 7 Jul 2026 · Department of Health and Social Care · Official record
Answered 14 Jul 2026
Question
Asked by Martin Wrigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has custody over the encryption keys used to protect data held within the NHS Federated Data Platform and the Privacy Enhancing Technologies.
Answer
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill, 14 Jul 2026
NHS England owns the keys. The Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) software generates, controls, and stores the key values securely, so they are not accessible to human users.The use of encryption keys is strictly controlled by NHS England for the NHS Fede...