DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

In Online Patient Communities, How Much Sharing Is Too Much?

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Dissent

Lindsay Abrams writes:

When you become a patient, a whole new world of social networking opens up. There’s one site that was described to me as being “like Match.com for cancer patients,” because it sorts its users by a/s/l, along with type of cancer and treatment. Another tailors itself to women with breast cancer and provides a space for them to “trade scarf fashion tips and treatment courses.” Other patients directly co-opt Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram as spaces for building a community.

While some forums, like the one run by the American Cancer Society, take basic discussion-board form — patients post under aliases and are urged not to share any personal identifiers — others embrace illness and recovery as part of a person’s identity. And the more open patients are, the more they may be at risk of exploitation.

Read more on The Atlantic.

The concerns also apply to support communities for spouses and family members. I remember the amazing amount of personal details revealed by parents in alt.support groups on usenet years ago as they sought help and support for their children. If we all knew then what we knew now… as many of their posts are still archived forever in Google, where they might come back to bite their child some day.


Related:

  • Former U.S. Soldier Pleads Guilty to Hacking and Extortion Scheme Involving Telecommunications Companies
  • DOGE Denizen Marko Elez Leaked API Key for xAI
  • Four people bailed after arrests over cyber attacks on M&S, Co-op and Harrods
  • Texas Enacts Electronic Health Record Data Localization Law
  • United Australia Party confirms ransomware attack, personal data and email correspondence exposed
Category: Uncategorized

Post navigation

← ACLU Challenging DEA’s Access to Confidential Prescription Records Without a Warrant
HHS breach investigations badly backlogged, leaving us in the dark →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • North Country Healthcare responds to Stormous’s claims of a breach
  • Gladney Adoption Center had serious data exposures in the past few months. What will they do to prevent more?
  • Former U.S. Soldier Pleads Guilty to Hacking and Extortion Scheme Involving Telecommunications Companies
  • DOGE Denizen Marko Elez Leaked API Key for xAI
  • Four people bailed after arrests over cyber attacks on M&S, Co-op and Harrods
  • RansomedVC is back — and is still attacking its competitors
  • Texas Enacts Electronic Health Record Data Localization Law
  • United Australia Party confirms ransomware attack, personal data and email correspondence exposed
  • Armenian National Extradited to the United States Faces Federal Charges for Ransomware Extortion Conspiracy
  • 70% of healthcare cyberattacks result in delayed patient care, report finds

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Texas Enacts Electronic Health Record Data Localization Law
  • Upstate NY county clerk again refuses to enforce Texas abortion judgment
  • Attorney General James Leads Coalition Urging Congress to Protect Americans from Masked ICE Agents
  • Attorney General Tong Announces $85,000 Settlement with TicketNetwork for Violations of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act​
  • Fourth Circuit upholds West Virginia ban on abortion pills
  • Meta fixes bug that could leak users’ AI prompts and generated content
  • The EU’s Plan To Ban Private Messaging Could Have a Global Impact (Plus: What To Do About It)

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.