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>Personally I'm not worried if GCHQ know that I went to the doctor about a rash. Except it can leave you vulnerable to blackmail. Say your rash is a symptom of

by rb2e 13y ago

>Personally I'm not worried if GCHQ know that I went to the doctor about a rash. Except it can leave you vulnerable to blackmail. Say your rash is a symptom of a STD which was caused by a drunken one night stand with a x/y person you met at a bar. "Now you wouldn't your partner to find out would you?" says the guy in guy in the suit... Other ways health records can be abused if your partner or child needs a transplant and they are way down the waiting list...

ijk 13y ago
More ways your health records can be abused: * 70% of Americans are currently using some form of prescription drug. Would you be comfortable if this information was given to, say, the next employer you interview with? * Many health issues can be embarrassing for people, even relatively benign ones. This isn't always obvious until you've experienced it. * Mental health issues often carry a social stigma. Yet 11% of the American population currently take antidepressants. * Health records, by necessity, include vast amounts of personal information that isn't directly medical. Addresses. Phone numbers. Social security numbers.
- Ellipsis753 13y ago
  Are you sure those statistics are right? Do you have a source for them? They just sound quite surprising to me (although I'm from the UK rather than the USA).
  - ijk 13y ago
    "Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over take antidepressant medication." from CDC/NCHS Data Brief: "Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2005–2008": http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm "Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say." from Mayo Clinic, "Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center Find": http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7543.html http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7543.html
    - Ellipsis753 13y ago
      Thank you. It's great to have sources and they seem very good. I would never have guessed that the number of people taking antidepressant drugs would be so high.

by rb2e 13y ago

ijk 13y ago

More ways your health records can be abused: * 70% of Americans are currently using some form of prescription drug. Would you be comfortable if this information was given to, say, the next employer you interview with? * Many health issues can be embarrassing for people, even relatively benign ones. This isn't always obvious until you've experienced it. * Mental health issues often carry a social stigma. Yet 11% of the American population currently take antidepressants. * Health records, by necessity, include vast amounts of personal information that isn't directly medical. Addresses. Phone numbers. Social security numbers.

Ellipsis753 13y ago
Are you sure those statistics are right? Do you have a source for them? They just sound quite surprising to me (although I'm from the UK rather than the USA).
- ijk 13y ago
  "Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over take antidepressant medication." from CDC/NCHS Data Brief: "Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2005–2008": http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm "Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say." from Mayo Clinic, "Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center Find": http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7543.html http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7543.html
  - Ellipsis753 13y ago
    Thank you. It's great to have sources and they seem very good. I would never have guessed that the number of people taking antidepressant drugs would be so high.