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Sharing Medical Information on Google Health 'a Risk to Privacy'warn Experts

by Hannah Punitha on Jun 5 2008 8:12 PM

Sharing medical information on Web sites like Google Health may be problematic for people when it comes to their privacy, warn experts.

Such web sites enable people to import their medical records from their healthcare providers, if they have signed up to the service.

Similarly, the users will also be able to share their reports with other doctors.

However, Washington DC-based privacy consultant Bob Gellman cautions people who use Gmail and Google's search engine that if they entrust the company with their medical data, it may have "more information about you than any other source".

Even though Google Health and its rivals like HealthVault promise to protect personal data, yet they have failed to allay concerns because of the fact that US privacy regulations concerning health records do not cover them, reports New Scientist magazine.

Source-ANI
SPH


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