U.S. laws restrict hospitals, physicians, and medical insurance companies from sharing people’s health information, but online application developers can sell it at will. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, psychological treatment has been changed to online, and patient information is more likely to be shared without the consent or knowledge of the person concerned. case, being sold to advertisers, etc., how to solve this problem?
Duke University School of Public Policy released a research report on the 13th, pointing out that the market for public health information is getting bigger and bigger. Researcher Joanne Kim (Joanne Kim) asked information intermediaries what “mental health information” can be bought, and there are actually Eleven companies responded that there was a wide variety of materials to choose from.
Information for sale includes which antidepressants are the most used? Does the patient have insomnia or concentration problems? Even if you have Alzheimer’s or have bladder control issues, etc. Information related to physical health is also readily available.
Buyers can also get additional benefits if they buy the “package” data, such as how many people in a certain zip code suffer from depression. Some even have patient names, addresses, income and other information, including a list of “patients with anxiety disorders” and a list of “US consumers of clinical depression”. .
Justin Sherman, director of the research project, said that this is simply a market for health information marketed according to customer tastes. You can buy whatever you want for two hundred yuan.”
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) prohibits hospitals, doctors and insurance companies from freely sharing the health information of American citizens, but it does not regulate how this information will be eventually processed. Sharing or selling is not illegal.
Joann King said that some intermediaries allow users to appeal or choose “not to participate”, but because most sellers do not disclose the source of the data, many people do not even know that their personal information has been uploaded to certain data files. It is unknown whether app vendors or websites that sell data allow users to choose “not to share”. Many data providers have stated in their business policies that they will share with the advertising industry or third-party “partners”.
Mental health information in particular should be handled with care, Sherman said, because of the potentially tragic consequences if it becomes public or is mishandled.

Worldjournal

Tags：Health information, any sale