S. E. Smith writes: When you’re mentally ill, one of your worst nightmares is being outed. Every week, I read about people who share my diagnosis being shot to death by police, injured, or killed in hate crimes, fired from their jobs, abandoned by their partners. Even as a journalist who is out about dealing with…
Category: Healthcare
Dutch head for collision with EU on patient privacy
Sander Zurkhake reports: Dutch Health Minister Edith Schippers is preparing a bill that critics say will turn doctors into arms of law enforcement. The opponents may have a savior in Brussels: Looming EU regulation on data protection could squash the government’s proposal. The government plans to loosen rules on patient privacy by requiring doctors in some…
U.S. Dept. of Education Seeking Your Input on Protecting Student Medical Records
Kathleen Styles, the Chief Privacy Officer at the U.S. Department of Education, writes: Protecting students’ privacy and ensuring colleges and universities promote a safe and healthy campus for their students has never been more important. As Chief Privacy Officer at ED, I help to lead the Department of Education in overseeing the administration of FERPA…
UK: Female Genital Mutilation patient identifiable data collection breaches confidentiality?
Marge Berer describes the UK government’s attempts to address concerns about female genital mutilation (FGM) and the need for a proper epidemiological study. But what the government is now mandating raises issues of privacy, confidentiality, and consent. Berer writes, in part: Starting in 2014, the Department of Health (DH) mandated that the Health & Social Care Information…