Privacy Versus Public Health: The Impact of Current Confidentiality Rules

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 100; no. 3; pp. 407 - 412
• Main Authors: Wartenberg, Daniel, Thompson, W. Douglas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01.03.2010; American Public Health Association
• Subjects: Access to Information - ethics; Access to Information - legislation & jurisprudence; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Computer Security - ethics; Computer Security - legislation & jurisprudence; Confidentiality; Confidentiality - ethics; Confidentiality - legislation & jurisprudence; Databases, Factual - ethics; Databases, Factual - legislation & jurisprudence; Disease; Disease prevention; Epidemiologic Studies; Epidemiology; Health care; Health insurance; Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act 1996-US; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - ethics; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - legislation & jurisprudence; Health Policy - legislation & jurisprudence; Health Policy and Ethics; Human subjects; Humans; Identity; Identity theft; Medical records; Medical Records - legislation & jurisprudence; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medical screening; Miscellaneous; Mortality; Outdoor air quality; Personal health; Personal information; Population Surveillance; Privacy; Privacy - legislation & jurisprudence; Public health; Public Health - ethics; Public Health - legislation & jurisprudence; Public Health - methods; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Research - organization & administration; United States; Vital Statistics; United States; Private life; Confidentiality; Comparative study; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.166249

Public health research and practice often have been facilitated through the evaluation and study of population-based data collected by local, state, and federal governments. However, recent concerns about identify theft, confidentiality, and patient privacy have led to increasingly restrictive policies on data access, often preventing researchers from using these valuable data. We believe that these restrictions, and the research impeded or precluded by their implementation and enforcement, have had a significant negative impact on important public health research. Members of the public health community should challenge these policies through their professional societies and by lobbying legislators and health officials to advocate for changes that establish a more appropriate balance between privacy concerns and the protection of public health.