Caution: don’t post your health information

Maggie Shields writing for the BBC News reported that Facebook is being sued by The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic for 22 separate privacy violations. Harley Finkelstein, 24 and a Facebook user for the last three years, told the BBC: “Facebook promotes itself as a social utility, but it’s also involved in commercial activities like targeted advertising. Facebook users need to know that when they’re signing up to Facebook, they’re signing up to share their information with advertisers.”(*) Agreed, that is the way companies make money and even in the seemingly alturistic venue to helping you keep your records on line for quick access, Americans may be sorry down the road. It is much too early to understand how HIPAA (privacy) laws will apply to the Internet. Secondly, it is possible that if marketing data is sold or illegally obtained, your personal health information could be used against you in the future. Health insurance anti-discrimination laws in the United States could use some fine tuning and until this is competed, posting your information today could lead to problems tomorrow.
Read the full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7428833.stm
(*) Facebook ‘violates privacy laws’, Maggie Shiels, Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley (online), May 31, 2008