4 ms·

This is a risky thing to do when the patient's name is attached to it. Insurance companies, salesmen, etc., could do quite a lot with such information. I whole

This is a risky thing to do when the patient's name is attached to it. Insurance companies, salesmen, etc., could do quite a lot with such information. I whole-heartedly support the general idea, and making a centralised database of things like this would be great. Such a database would probably make it easier to anonymise the data as well.

herman5 9y ago
Anonymize then let the flood gates open.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  De-anonymizing medical records strikes me as a fairly easy problem to solve... the information is literally one large biometric database.
  - blaurenceclark 9y ago
    There are actually government mandated methods for deidentifcation https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-topics/de-identification/ https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-...
    - jldugger 9y ago
      > government mandated methods Is that supposed to imply they work?
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      Actually, if you read that, they aren't government mandated methods (in the technical sense) there's an option of either using a government-specified safe harbor method or getting an "expert determination" that the data is deidentified.
      - blaurenceclark 9y ago
        I should have said "there is a government mandated method, but that's not the only way" It's more of a starting point than anything else. Also if you get HIPAA audited you either have to follow the government way (easiest for broke startups) or go the expert way but that is a bit more costly to prove out.
kwhitefoot 9y ago
Even without the patient's name attached it is easy to identify people because of the necessary metadata in the record. If you expect to get useful information about, for instance lung disease the record will have to contain information about exposure to likely causes, age, occupation, region of the country (possibly town), sex. It will also contain marital status, whether one has children, drinking and smoking habits, weight, ethnicity. This is pretty close to unique, just like a browser finger print. See for instance: http://randomwalker.info/publications/no-silver-bullet-de-identification.pdf http://randomwalker.info/publications/no-silver-bullet-de-id...

herman5 9y ago

Anonymize then let the flood gates open.

zzalpha 9y ago
De-anonymizing medical records strikes me as a fairly easy problem to solve... the information is literally one large biometric database.
- blaurenceclark 9y ago
  There are actually government mandated methods for deidentifcation https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-topics/de-identification/ https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-...
  - jldugger 9y ago
    > government mandated methods Is that supposed to imply they work?
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    Actually, if you read that, they aren't government mandated methods (in the technical sense) there's an option of either using a government-specified safe harbor method or getting an "expert determination" that the data is deidentified.
    - blaurenceclark 9y ago
      I should have said "there is a government mandated method, but that's not the only way" It's more of a starting point than anything else. Also if you get HIPAA audited you either have to follow the government way (easiest for broke startups) or go the expert way but that is a bit more costly to prove out.

kwhitefoot 9y ago

Even without the patient's name attached it is easy to identify people because of the necessary metadata in the record. If you expect to get useful information about, for instance lung disease the record will have to contain information about exposure to likely causes, age, occupation, region of the country (possibly town), sex. It will also contain marital status, whether one has children, drinking and smoking habits, weight, ethnicity. This is pretty close to unique, just like a browser finger print. See for instance: http://randomwalker.info/publications/no-silver-bullet-de-identification.pdf http://randomwalker.info/publications/no-silver-bullet-de-id...