HealthVault: No Committments, Sleeping Watchdog

Fred Trotter has a in depth analysis
of public statements by Dr. Deborah Peel of the Privacy Rights Foundation and a comparison and contrast of what is being said publicly but what is actually committed to by the HealthVault Privacy Policy: “Has Microsoft committed to keeping the promises that it has already made? No, just the opposite. Their privacy policy concludes:�We may occasionally update this privacy statement�

Which means that when the commitments that Microsoft has made regarding HealthVault become inconvenient, they will simply change them.

Will the data that you enter into HealthVault be secure? Would my HealthVault data be studied by my insurance company? Would access be limited to those who I choose to have access? Thank goodness Microsoft�s answer to this question was not simply �Trust Me�! Instead it is �Trust my auditor�. This is, apparently enough to satisfy the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, and the Coalition for Patient Privacy….In short, Microsoft�s commitment to follow the policy is a commitment that they have NOT made in their policy. Microsoft is basically saying �Trust us, this is secure and private�. Everything about Microsoft�s history indicates that commitments to privacy and security are bogus. What exactly made Dr. Peel conclude they are the market leader in Health Record security and privacy? What made her conclude that Microsoft has �committed� to third party audits?

Perhaps Dr. Peel is discussing a subject as though she were an expert, when in fact she has had little relevant training on the subject.”

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