Archive for the ‘Privacy (Medical)’ Category
The Demi Moore 911 Call: A Breach of Medical Confidentiality?
posted by Daniel Solove
I’ve written before on the issue of whether 911 calls should be public. The recent release of the Demi Moore 911 call raises the issues once again. From CBS News:
The tape of the frantic 911 call from actress Demi Moore’s Beverly Hills home Monday night is out and, reports CBS News national correspondent Lee Cowan, the scene sounds a lot more dire than her publicist had let on.
After Moore was rushed to the hospital, a statement said she ‘d be seeking professional help for exhaustion and her overall health.
“The 911 tape really indicates that this is a much more serious situation than we were first led to believe,” says US Weekly’s Melanie Bromley. “We’ve been told it’s exhaustion that she’s suffering from, but you can tell from the tape that there’s a very desperate situation there. She’s having convulsions and she’s almost losing consciousness. It’s a very scary tape to listen to.”
Why is this public? Many 911 calls, like the one with Demi Moore, involve requests for medical treatment. Typically, whenever any doctor, nurse, or healthcare professional learns information about a person, it is stringently protected. A healthcare provider who breaches medical confidentiality can face ethical charges as well as legal liability for the breach of confidentiality tort. In addition, there may be HIPAA violations of the healthcare provider is HIPAA-regulated. 911 call centers are not HIPAA-regulated, but the operators are in a special position of trust and are often providing healthcare advice (and calling for healthcare services such as ambulances). If the call from Demi Moore’s home had been to a hospital or a doctor or any other type of healhcare provider, public disclosure of the call would be forbidden. Why isn’t a 911 call seen in the same light?
As I pointed out in my earlier post about the issue, I believe the release of 911 call transcripts to the public violates the constitutional right to information privacy. The cases generally recognize strong privacy rights whenever health information is involved. States with laws, policies, or practices that infringe upon the constitutional right to information privacy might be liable in a Section 1983 suit. I have not seen one yet, but it is about time something sparks states to rethink their policies about making the calls public.
The rationale for making the calls public is to provide transparency about the responsiveness of 911 call centers. But this can be done in other ways without violating the privacy of individuals. The main use of the Demi Moore call being public is to serve as grist for the media to learn about her problems. This doesn’t make the 911 system safer or better; it just makes the tabloids sell faster.
January 28, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Posted in: Privacy, Privacy (Gossip & Shaming), Privacy (Medical)
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Data Security in Healthcare: Some Startling Statistics
posted by Daniel Solove
A new report by the Ponemon Institute reveals some startling statistics about data security in healthcare:
The frequency of data breaches among organizations in this study has increased 32 percent from the previous year. In fact, 96 percent of all healthcare providers say they have had at least one data breach in the last two years. Most of these were due to employee mistakes and sloppiness—49 percent of respondents in this study cite lost or stolen computing devices and 41 percent note unintentional employee action. Another disturbing cause is third-party error, including business associates, according to 46 percent of participants.
There is a lot more alarming information in the report.
Self-interest alert: I provide privacy and data security programs to healthcare institutions.
December 30, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Posted in: Privacy, Privacy (Medical)
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Posting about Patients on Social Media Sites
posted by Daniel Solove
An increasing problem is caused when medical personnel post details about patients on their social media websites. From Daily News:
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center officials are investigating an employee who allegedly posted a patient’s medical information on his Facebook page, apparently to make fun of the woman and her medical condition.
According to a printout of the Facebook page obtained by the Daily News, the employee displayed a photo of a medical record listing the woman’s name and the date she was admitted, and posted the comment: “Funny but this patient came in to cure her VD and get birth control.”
Providence officials said the employee was provided by a staffing agency.
An interesting fact in this article is that most healthcare institutions lack policies for employee use of social media:
Only about a third of all hospitals are believed to have specific policies in place regarding patient information and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, according to published reports.
I expect this to change in the next few years.
Hat Tip: Pogo Was Right
December 30, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Posted in: Privacy, Privacy (Gossip & Shaming), Privacy (Medical)
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The Year in Privacy Books 2011
posted by Daniel Solove
Here’s a list of notable privacy books published in 2011.
Previous lists:
| Saul Levmore & Martha Nussbaum, eds., The Offensive Internet (Harvard 2011)
This is a great collection of essays about the clash of free speech and privacy online. I have a book chapter in this volume along with Martha Nussbaum, Cass Sunstein, Brian Leiter, Danielle Citron, Frank Pasquale, Geoffrey Stone, and many others. |
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| Daniel J. Solove, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security (Yale 2011)
Nothing to Hide “succinctly and persuasively debunks the arguments that have contributed to privacy’s demise, including the canard that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from surveillance. Privacy, he reminds us, is an essential aspect of human existence, and of a healthy liberal democracy—a right that protects the innocent, not just the guilty.” — David Cole, New York Review of Books |
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| Jeff Jarvis, Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live (Simon & Schuster 2011)
I strongly disagree with a lot of what Jarvis says, but the book is certainly provocative and engaging. |
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| Daniel J. Solove & Paul M. Schwartz, Privacy Law Fundamentals (IAPP 2011)
“A key resource for busy professional practitioners. Solove and Schwartz have succeeded in distilling the fundamentals of privacy law in a manner accessible to a broad audience.” – Jules Polonetsky, Future of Privacy Forum |
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| Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble (Penguin 2011)
An interesting critique of the personalization of the Internet. We often don’t see the Internet directly, but through tinted goggles designed by others who determine what we want to see. |
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| Siva Vaidhyanathan, The Googlization of Everything (U. California 2011)
A vigorous critique of Google and other companies that shape the Internet. With regard to privacy, Vaidhyanathan explains how social media and other companies encourage people’s sharing of information through their architecture — and often confound people in their ability to control their reputation. |
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| Susan Landau, Surveillance or Security? The Risk Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies (MIT 2011)
A compelling argument for how designing technologies around surveillance capabilities will undermine rather than promote security.
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| Kevin Mitnick, Ghost in the Wires (Little Brown 2011)
A fascinating account of the exploits of Kevin Mitnick, the famous ex-hacker who inspired War Games. His tales are quite engaging, and he demonstrates that hacking is often not just about technical wizardry but old-fashioned con-artistry. |
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| Matt Ivester, lol . . . OMG! (CreateSpace 2011)
Ivester created Juicy Campus, the notorious college gossip website. After the site’s demise, Ivester changed his views about online gossip, recognizing the problems with Juicy Campus and the harms it caused. In this book, he offers thoughtful advice for students about what they post online. |