KEY TAKEAWAY: Drug companies need to clarify their privacy policies very quickly and should THINK very carefully about buying data that users could see as an invasion of their privacy.
Online health privacy
POST SUMMARY: According to the Pew Internet Project, 72 percent of US internet users look up health-related information online. But an astonishing number of the pages we visit to learn about private health concerns—confidentially, we assume—are tracking our queries, sending the sensitive data to third party corporations, even shipping the information directly to the same brokers who monitor our credit scores. It’s happening for profit, for an “improved user experience,” and because developers have flocked to “free” plugins and tools provided by data-vacuuming companies.
POST SUMMARY: Online communities can be a valuable patient resource, but safeguards have to be in place. Using patient data for retargeting or other monetary reasons is going to turn patients off.