Paging Dr. Google.
Its called “getting your Google MD”, and you know you have done it - that late night search to diagnose yourself. This scratch, is it infected? That ache - sprain or break or strain, or cancer? Because all Google medical searches end in cancer, according to my own n=1 experiments. Hangnail, or …cancer? ACL issue, or….cancer? Migraine or brain tumour? Its cancer, always cancer in the end, with Google searches, but we do it anyway, and for the not squeamish and highly hypochondriacal, there are always Google image searches on medical ailments to help the diagnosis along.
But now Google is getting into the business of individual health on a very real basis, via our health records, by creating a system that will allow patients to access and transfer their health records to a google repository. While the official word is that these records will remain secure, as soon as I saw this I started wondering about the privacy implications. Fred Stutzman says it more eloquently than I:
Can I ever really give informed consent when I’m trading my health records, deeply personal and private information, for the measly tradeoff of what essentially boils down to online hosting of text files? Sure, I’ve already given Google my search and communication information, but they had to work for it. But my entire medical history just so I can access it when I want? And they can market to me with that information? This is simply too much to give away for convenience.
My own health service has a wonderful online component - I can see and track my test results, run simple charts to show change over time, and message my doctor for minor stuff and/or request refills online. Its convenient, and private, and gives me a measure of control over my medical history, and it isn’t hosted by Google. Accessing my records digitally in this manner is covered by HIPAA, but using a third party vendor like Google may be considered a form of opting out of the protection of HIPAA. I cannot help but wonder who will see those records at Google, how will that information be mined, and what will they do with it? After all, Google isn’t an impartial philanthropic foundation devoted to the betterment of society via technology, although that seems to be the stance most users take when they use the search engine, download the search bar, and link google functionality to their Firefox browsers.
How much does Google know about you, and about me, and where is the balance going to be - where is that thin line where what we give up to them, privacy-wise, no longer is enough for what they offer?