Google has announced in the last couple of days a couple of new products that makes it clear that Google knows everything about you, or is about to, including your location and your health.
Google Health is a new service that organizes and stores all your health information including your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies.
Of course Google promise that your information will be secure and kept private.
“”We will never sell your data. You are in control. You choose what you want to share and what you want to keep private””
Moreover Google Says:
“””Of course you don’t want to type in your entire medical history yourself. So we’ve partnered with hospitals, labs, and pharmacies to allow you to import your records and prescription history from healthcare providers that treat you. Linking accounts with these partners is secure. Just identify yourself by signing in at the partner’s site with the username and login that you have with them, and then confirm that you want to link accounts and transfer data to Google Health.””
Yesterday Google release, Google Latitude, a program by which you can track the location of any of your friends or loved ones or they can track you. The program works on almost any cell phone, except notably for the iphone.
You can “”See your friends’ locations on a full screen even without a compatible phone or data plan.””
Of course to participate in either program you have to sign up.
However with these two new programs Googling yourself is going to have some new meanings.
Probably important to point out that Google presently have no health information whatsoever on Joe Public. HIPAA prohibits the sharing of private health information and this cannot be disclosed to anyone, ever without your written consent.
Google know NOTHING about your health information unless you told them, or your health care provider violated HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) = not likely.
So the service will only be as viable (or as intrusive) as consumers allow it to be. The security and privacy of health care information, via HIPAA, easily supercedes any corporation’s wish to access, distribute, or sell that information.
Mr. Menius
Correct.
However, it appears that Google will become the central repository of all information in our life at some point in the future.
UPDATE
The watchdog group Privacy International is sounding an alarm about Google’s new phone tracking system, Latitude.
“As it stands right now, Latitude could be a gift to stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners and obsessive friends,” Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said in a new report.
But Privacy International says the system has a design flaw: Other people can get their hands on users’ phones, and then change the settings. For instance, the group said, a phone left in a repair shop could be secretly enabled. Or someone could give another a Latitude-enabled phone as a gift.
“Once the phone has been enabled, the second party will be able to mask his phone’s presence, thus ensuring that the victim is unaware that her phone is being tracked,” the group said in its report.
“Many people will see Latitude as a cool product, but the reality is that Google has yet again failed to deliver strong privacy and security. The company has a long way to go before it can capture the trust of phone users,” Davies said.
The group suggested that Google send regular messages to users telling them that their phones are Latitude-enabled.
Ha ha…the power of Cloud Computing and I am glad I have some good solid domains regarding cloud computing.
Microsoft is into the health too…
Who is the MedicalCzar.com?
me..ha ha