Smith says she forgot about the incident until last spring, when she was thinking about applying for new insurance. Hospital spokespeople declined to comment on Smith's case, citing confidentiality. As health care goes digital, even the best hospitals face increased pressure to profit off of patient health data. In some cases, they may sell it to marketers, or position it as a key asset as they negotiate mergers or partnerships. Whichever route hospitals choose, they will place the privacy of all their patients at risk, and that's particularly troublesome because at one point or another, everyone is a patient.
Hospitals are simply the most visible offenders.
Consider what passes for medical ethics on the Web. In a recent study of 21 prominent health sites, Janlori Goldman, director of the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., found that 19 had privacy policies. The public is not pleased. These are not idle fears. The past year alone produced a parade of embarrassing privacy breaches.