From EPIC.org: Google announced this week a new web tool that may make it possible to detect flu outbreaks before they might otherwise be reported. Google Flu Trends relies on individual search terms, such as “flu symptoms,” provided by Internet users. Google has said that it will only reveal aggregate data, but there are no…
Category: Health Data
NL: Privacy row over putting Dutch medical charts on file
From Mohit Joshi: If Dutch health minister Ab Klink has his way, the medical charts of all Dutch nationals will be stored in a single national database as of January 1. From that day onwards, the family doctor can read what the neurologist has written down about his patient, while the neurologist can study his…
FL: Dental School Security Breach
University of Florida officials have notified about 330,000 current and former dental patients that an unauthorized intruder recently accessed a College of Dentistry computer server storing their personal information. The breach was discovered October third while college information technology staff members were upgrading the server and found software had been installed on it remotely. It…
Magee admits privacy breach in whistleblower filing
Walter F. Roche Jr. reports: Attorneys for Magee-Womens Hospital filed documents available on the Internet that included the names and confidential medical information of several patients, in what hospital officials called an inadvertent violation of federal law. The filings were made in the case of a former secretary at the UPMC facility who was fired…
Express Scripts Reports New Threats Tied to Data Security Breach
Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX), one of the largest pharmacy benefit management companies in North America, announced today that a small number of its clients have received letters threatening to expose the personal information of its members. The threats are believed to be connected to an extortion threat the company made public last week. The letters,…
Ca: Privacy spectre raised in lab clash
Tracy Tong reports: A plan to consolidate regional lab services could compromise the confidentiality of Ottawans’ health records, an area lawyer charged yesterday. The Champlain Local Health Integration Network – which includes 15 eastern Ontario hospitals, including Ottawa’s – is planning on consolidating many services at a “superlab†in partnership with an American company that…