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...invaluable--the needs vital patient records, the security analyst who wants glean some intelligence from financial records. But for all its potential good use, the same data has great potential for misuse--either inadvertent or intentional. Mishaps have already happened and, while policies are in places (and new ones are soon to be implemented), the risk remains. Perhaps the real question then is to ask whether technology to preserve privacy can advance as quickly as the technology that seems to be putting privacy at risk.
In late December 2002, the U.S. Department of Defense reported that its efforts to computerize the medical records of military personnel were set back when hard drives containing the records of a half-million personnel were stolen. The records included names, social security numbers, and medical claims histories. According to the Associated Press, the Defense Department had seen the new computerized system "as a potential 'data gold mine' for military physicians and other healthcare professionals that will provide quick and easy access to military patient records worldwide."
While this is perhaps the most spectacular recent privacy breach, it is not the only one. According to news accounts, patient record information has been compromised at a major pharmaceutical chain, a health insurance company, and an online retailer of healthcare products, to name a few places. In each of these cases, the compromise has been inadvertent: in one case, information was emailed to the wrong parties and in another case-sensitive information was accidentally posted to a public Web site. But when these accidental disclosures are considered in light of the Defense Department theft and some well-publicized security breaches at ecommerce companies, the concern begins to grow.
Indeed, many would argue that, when it comes to medical records, any compromise is unacceptable and that every reasonable effort should be made to safeguard such data. To that end, the federal government is mandating the enforcement of new patient privacy rules under...
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