A patient newly diagnosed with cancer who is bombarded with direct mail and telephone solicitations. A woman who undergoes a therapeutic abortion and starts receiving hate mail from the religious right. If any of this sounds preposterous, think again. With data becoming the ripest commodity for trading in black markets, ask yourself if a business owner would want his competitors to be able to purchase all of his financial data overseas. Then ask yourself how you would feel if the confidentiality of patient medical records that you try so hard to protect as part of your job could easily be sacrificed by purchasing that data overseas.
Many companies run routine credit checks on prospective employees.
Imagine yourself being the job candidate for a medium to high-stress position with long hours. The manager pulls your credit check and, somehow, gets your HIV status. But if the manager thinks you re not worth the trouble, you don't get the job. The concept becomes more frightening if genetic testing for a predisposition to certain diseases is widespread. Today s technology has placed in our hands a Pandora s box filled with some very enticing and convenient options.