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Google’s Health Record Storage Controversy, US Border Search Ruling, Zelle Scams
You’re listening to the Shared Security Podcast, exploring the trust you put in people, apps, and technology…with your host, Tom Eston.
In episode 95 for November 18th 2019: Google’s access to the medical records of millions of Americans, a new ruling on suspicionless searches at the US border, and details on a new scam using the popular money sharing app Zelle.
This week I read a news article about how more schools are either outright banning the use of smart phones or having kids put their phones in their lockers while in class. And while some kids may complain that they can’t use their device, teachers and school administrators are noticing that when there are no smart phones in school kids seem more engaged with their friends, less distracted, and even less stressed. I think this is a great idea and hope more schools start implementing similar polices but did you know that as adults we have the power to do the same thing? When was the last time you “docked” your phone during the day so you could be more engaged and less distracted. Well Silent Pocket has the perfect solution for this and it’s called a Faraday Bag. Simply place your smart phone in one of their stylish faraday bags and you have instant silence, privacy, and quick way to be more engaged with the people around us. Pick up one today at silentpocket.com and use discount code “sharedsecurity” at checkout to receive 15% off your order.
Welcome to the Shared Security Weekly Blaze Podcast where we update you on this week’s most important cybersecurity and privacy news. These podcasts are published every Monday and are 15 minutes or less quickly giving you “news that you can use”.
I realize that just a few weeks ago I talked about Facebook’s new preventive health tool that is apparently not collecting patient data, but this past week it was reported that Google actually does have access to detailed medical records on tens of millions of Americans. But don’t worry, Google says that it promises to not mix patient data with all of the other massive amounts of data that Google collects about its users. The Wall Street Journal reported that Google has partnered with a company called Ascension, which is the second largest healthcare system in the US, on a project to “collect and crunch the detailed personal-health information of millions of people across 21 states.” According to a statement from Ascension they say they are partnering with Google to improve the tools used by patients and caregivers as well as “explore artificial intelligence and machine learning applications that will have the potential to support improvements in clinical quality and effectiveness.”
So what kind of healthcare data are we talking about? Well, pretty much everything including names, birthdates, addresses, family members, allergies, immunizations, radiology scans, hospitalization records, lab tests, medications, medical conditions, and even some billing claims. Shockingly, it seems that this partnership does not violate HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) as the law does allow hospitals to share data with business partners as long as the data is used to help carry out its health care functions. Personally, I think this is a fine line that Google and Ascension are walking here. I mean, does anyone else find it ironic that Google also just purchased FitBit for $2.1 billion dollars? Don’t you think that it’s going to be really tempting for Google to find ways to
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago