"Are We Taking Patient Privacy as Seriously as We Ought to Be?"

Anita Allen, University of Pennsylvania professor of law and philosophy, kicked off the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum with a discussion on patient privacy in an era of widespread data sharing. Allen wanted to use her expertise in law and bioethics to address issues of great concern in healthcare and technology, with a focus on data exchange and patient privacy. Allen's keynote talk focused on the shifting narrative of data sharing and privacy. Health data privacy attitudes are rapidly shifting, and disclosure is becoming the new norm. People are increasingly disclosing personal health information via wearables, social media, and other technologies, she said, and researchers and the government are actively encouraging this sharing. However, the desire for privacy is highly personal and should not be underestimated. According to Allen, the new narrative may be favored by larger companies and the government who believe that sharing data is the better path to health, but privacy interests may be lightly treated by those pushing the new narrative forward, and it warrants further consideration. She mentioned the All of Us Research Project, which is part of the National Institutes of Health's Precision Medicine Initiative, as a new narrative project. It is creating a database based on 1 million diverse Americans from all walks of life who will disclose their phenotypic and genetic health data. This data is for a government database as a research source, but it is unclear what exactly what the data will be used for. Allen believes that much reflection is required, and that striking a balance between the interests in privacy and in disclosure presents a challenge. This article continues to discuss key points made by Allen on patient data privacy.

HealthcareITNews reports "Are We Taking Patient Privacy as Seriously as We Ought to Be?"