TRUMP’S HEALTH TECH PUSH RAISES PRIVACY RED FLAGS

Republished from The Highwire
Written by Steven Middendorp

President Donald Trump and cabinet members announced plans for a Health Technology Ecosystem overseen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The ecosystem was listed on the federal register in May, and a total of 1,366 public comments were left during the 30-day comment period. The stated goal of the initiative is to streamline access to medical records and data for the benefit of patients. The government has partnered with Amazon, Oracle, Google, and OpenAI as part of the infrastructure plan. Digital privacy experts have expressed concerns about tech giants having access to a robust public health database.

President Trump attempted to quell these fears during the press conference. “The system will be entirely opt-in, and there will be no centralized government-run database, which everyone is always concerned about. I’m less concerned than anybody,” President Trump said. “People are very, very concerned about the personal records. They want to keep them very quiet, and that’s their choice. I think it’s a great thing because it will be absolutely quiet. Instead, doctors and patients will always remain in control. The benefits to millions of Americans will be enormous.”

Jeff Chester, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy, said, “This scheme is an open door for the further use and monetization of sensitive and personal health information.”

One potential area of privacy concern is the use of QR codes that would allow patients to share their medical histories with…

Read more at The Highwire.

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