Elizabeth Snell writes: The de-identification of data is an important part of healthcare technology, especially as the use of EHRs and HIEs becomes more prominent. The HIPAA Privacy Rule states that once data has been de-identified, covered entities can use or disclose it without any limitation. The information is no longer considered PHI, and does…
Category: Healthcare
Is privacy to blame for the Germanwings tragedy?
Responding to all the media hype about how German privacy laws contributed to the Germanwings tragedy, Carissa Véliz writes, in part: Frank Ulrich Montgomery, president of the German Medical Association (BÄK), disagrees. He pointed out that, under current laws, aviation doctors are relieved of their duties of confidentiality if they think a pilot could put other people’s lives at…
Squealing on DNA: the law and secondary uses of genetic information
Professor Nils Hoppe has an article in BioNews that I recommend you read. It begins: One of the legally and ethically problematic issues regularly debated in the context of biobanks and tissue repositories is that of its potential for forensic use. When Anna Lindh (the Swedish foreign minister) was murdered in 2003, her killer was subsequently…
UK: Police Action Demanded After NHS-Backed Pharmacy Sells Personal Data to Marketing Firms
Donna Rachel Edmunds reports: Thousands of patients have had their personal information sold to marketing companies after using an NHS-approved online pharmacy. Many of those who had their information flogged were using the Pharmacy2U service because they were too old or sick to travel to a chemist. The transaction was just one example of many…