Guardian Staff

I like real maps, but mobile phones can be vital in an emergency | Brief letters

Using GPS in the wild | A toast to healthy hearts | Staffing self-checkouts | Digital assistance | Happy birthday, dear readers

Having rambled for 65 years with Ordnance Survey maps and a compass, I agree with John Harris about using GPS in the wild (We now leave navigation to our phones. The result: more of us are getting hopelessly lost, 27 April). A phone screen is too small to see the wider terrain. But having carried an emergency whistle and pocket heliograph, I have to admit that phones can be a lifesaver in a real emergency.
Joe Oldaker
Nuneaton, Warwickshire

UK Biobank is safely sharing health data to drive medical research | Letter

Prof Rory Collins, CEO of UK Biobank, responds to concerns about access to UK patient information, highlighting the safeguards and research benefits

Your report (Revealed: Chinese researchers can access half a million UK GP records, 15 April) fails to recognise the importance of data in advancing health research, when shared safely, securely and on a global scale. UK Biobank was set up 20 years ago by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome with the mission to create the most detailed source of health data for researchers worldwide. The dream became a reality thanks to half a million volunteers across the UK.

Predictive policing has prejudice built in | Letters

Ilyas Nagdee of Amnesty International and others respond to government plans to use personal data to identify people most likely to become killers

Re your article (‘Dystopian’ tool aims to predict murder, 9 April), the collection and automation of data has repeatedly led to the targeting of racialised and low-income communities, and must come to an end. This has been found by both Amnesty International in our Automated Racism report and by Statewatch in its findings on the “murder prediction” tool.

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