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E-mail and Privacy
LETTER
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES 3/7/05
Only those who
don't care if their medical information is
public should presently risk using e-mail for
private medical data.
As a licensed
health care professional, who designs Web sites
for health care professionals and is trained in
the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, I have seen many encryption
products promising security. They may be
satisfactory for information kept on secure
servers, but are inadequate for e-mail.
Passwords and encryption can be cracked,
especially in patients' underprotected, hackable
computers.
If you think
identity theft and spam e-mail are bad now,
don't let convenience and price lure you into a
false sense of security.
Until really
secure e-mail becomes available, e-mailed
medical information is just waiting to be stolen
by telemarketers, blackmailers and others
interested in your personal information.
Carol Goldberg |