Health records/google

[Sojourn]

Google ventures into health records biz

February 21, 2008

Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader.
Google will test a new service that will allow the Internet search leader to store patients' medical records. The pilot project to be announced Thursday will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public. Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected by a password that's also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools. Google views its expansion into health records management as a logical extension because its search engine already processes millions of requests from people trying to find more information about an injury, illness or recommended treatment.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/21/google.records.ap/index.html

I don't like the sound of this. They say the records would be protected by password, but when has that ever stopped anyone who really wanted, and had the ability, to get through such safeguards? And before long, Google will know more about you, than you know yourself.

 

[Kev]

Big Brother wasn't always a TV show... It's absolutely incredible what information is already out there, online someplace.. if only one knows where to look and how.

I was away from the PI game for a long, long time... over 30 years. I was stunned at how much info one can now get on a person online... either thru public sources or via subscription services to companies that stockpile such info

Google getting into medical records may be news, but it's nothing new. It just wakes one up to the spread, the proliferation, of personal info on the 'ether'..
Here in Canada, legislation was enacted in the past few years to curtail/limit it, but... 'the net' really circumvents a lot of national territorial boundaries, and its practically impossible for an individual to protect themselves from exploitation or other info vulnerabilities... Frinstance, how many folks receive 'pre-approved' credit apps in the mail, or cheques from their credit card or banking institutions?

do they just get tossed in the trash? time to buy a good shredder. What about the last time you paid for a meal, or ran a tab at a restaurant or bar with a credit card? Just cause they don't use carbon paper anymore doesn't mean it isn't a risk.. These days, with wireless communications, thieves don't necessarlly have to 'hard' wire into a POS or other terminal to steal your info..

Anyway, I'm rambling.. Guess what I'm trying to say is that the threat already exists... Google getting into it MAY raise it's awareness level on your radar, but it really, in the overall reality of the situation, isn't greatly increasing your risk. I could REALLY scare you folks (and we've got some other IT folks on here who'll back me up) by telling you just how much, and how fairly easy it REALLY is, to get a,,,, welll, pardon the phrase, shitload of info on someone from just their IP address (via the MAC ID number hardwired into the network card that connects your computer to the web... even barring h/w or s/w firewalls, false fronts, etc) It's mostly an illegal process, but that only stops the law abiding citizens on it..

side tracked again.. My point, before I go off on another tangent, is that IF you look at the positive potential (ignoring the negative because its' just a drop in the proverbial ocean)... doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, being able to access ALL of your medical history online WHEN they/you need it... has to be a really, really big step forward... Thanks to this illness, I've been in more ER situations than I ever expected (talk about lack of privacy) and I've seen/heard countless cases where someone is brought in, either can't/won't/doesn't recall their history, and the medical staff plays investigator OR else takes their own best guess at what's wrong, what a patient is on, what their medical history is, all of that. It sounds implausible, or rare, or would never, ever happen to you, right? Wrong!
How many people with IBD are wearing a Medic Alert tag re meds or condition?
end of rant.. end of long winded sermon.. Getting your medical info may cost you a job, or a raise, something along those lines. It could also save your life.

Getting your personal info.. name, address, SI info, credit rating, banking info.. those are the ones that will really get you into trouble, and they are easy to get... Ask any "white hatter" JUST how vulnerable a typical computer user is..

 

[Sojourn]

Yeah, I agree it could be a great help to doctors/nurses to quickly access needed information. I wouldn't necessarily care about people knowing my medical history, if it somehow got out in the open. But I do get the feeling of that "big brother" scenario.

You could learn a lot about a person from their Google searches and Google compiles all that information, even though as aggregate information, they could identify an individual if they wanted to. And of course, a lot of websites do tracking of other sites you visit. In addition to credit card records, etc., if the government ever became totalitarian they could really play games with you. But I wouldn't expect this to happen in my lifetime.

 

[Kev]

In the 'big' picture, reputable outfits like Google, et al, are really small potates. As for 'big brother', if folks online only had an inkling.. of what is going on 24X7 day in, day out.. Mostly 'purportedly', as counter terrorism measures, but in reality, it's something that if folks saw in a movie they wouldn't believe for a single minute. I had brushes with 'big brother'.. not in an illegal sense of the word, but since I was the head of an IT dept for a major military manufacturer, dealing with extremely classified materials for a number of North American, Nato and allied military clientele... I became exposed... trained, briefed, EVEN investigated (nothing like undergoing a year long plus investigation by one's own... ) by the highest levels of security and intelligence. During some of those briefings, the intel we were 'advised' of... and how it was being sourced, wellllll, it was a real eye opener. Big Brother is constantly watching, problem is they watch everyone, all the time... they get bogged down by the volumes of info they gather.. Thing of it is, if one had the luxury of time, and could source their 'collective' data, the only folks who one couldn't find chapter and verse on would be the Amish. Or some bearded guys who only hang out in a cave,, etc.

 

[AbstractDonut]

I personally wouldn't care if they did this, as long as they did not keep your social security number with your records.

And what I find interesting is that if they keep putting info online and keep finding new info that can be had, they will make a virtual sea of information. It just seems to me that sooner or later they will have all this information and finding anything specific will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

We know our subjects license plate number and car are somewhere in all these traffic camera streams, but we have over 80,000 hours of traffic data. Seriously they will need Google to keep things organized.

 

[Kev]

Wellll, up here in Canada, when they started issuing plastic health coverage cards to weed out some folks who were crossing the borders (national and provincial) for freebie health services.... some 'body' thought it would save a few steps to use our Social Insurance (Canadian version of Social Security) numbers as a short cut. That didn't last long... Canadian government stepped in and mandated that these numbers couldn't be used for these or other purposes.. In fact, by law, one can refuse to divulge or give this number to any person, place or thing not directly connected to the Canadian Social Insurance system.. except of course to your employer for tax or benefits requirements. So my S.I. info CAN'T be tied to my medical info... There's some security to that

 

[AbstractDonut]

Seems in the US our SS# is used for everything.

 

[Kev]

Welll, pardon me for asking a stupid question... but doesn't that make it easier for someone to steal your info... your benefits, or worst of all, your identity.. (I know, another in a long line of stupid questions)

Just that, recently, I've been plagued by a 'minor' identity theft that apparently happened 14 (YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT) years ago. I got a collection agency who periodically calls me to make good on a purchase they claim I made in late 93..

Problem is, I never made such a purchase... never received the item.. and they say it was shipped to me here ... Except of course I wasn't living here at that time. I 'splained' to them that I never ordered the item (a collectors plate of some kind... sorry, but even if by some stretch of the imagination one thought of me as having a 'feminist' side - not that there's anything wrong with that, I don't go in for collectors plates... no matter how cute the dogs playing poker may be).. I never received such an item, I never authorized anyone to make a purchase like that in my name... never received such an item, or signed for it, NOR was I living/residing anywhere near this address at the time of purchase.
I don't even know if this 'collection' agency is anything more than a 'boiler room' con game.. Just know that they won't send any documentation in the 'mail', and I have literally told them where they can put their 14 year old phoney bill.

I hope they have an understanding GI. Cause, if they listen to my suggestion, they're going to need one.

 

[AbstractDonut]

Yeah may be a scam on their part, you sign up for some news letter and they auto enroll you for something else.

It would be odd for someone to steal your info for just one plate.

 

[Kev]

Except that this plate, or collectable, or whatever it was exactly... COST $250.00

Can you imagine? I wouldn't spend that much on an entire dinner service for 8, even if the Royal Family were dropping by for supper. Gimme a break...