Privacy and Health Practices in the Digital Age

Abstract

Increasing privacy concerns are arising from expanding use of aggregated personal information in health practices. Conversely, in light of the promising benefits of data driven healthcare, privacy is being frequently dismissed as outdated, costly and ultimately egotistical. This paper aims to review the theoretical framework on privacy in order to overcome the often simplistic debate between the primacy of individual or collective interests. As a result, it is argued that although privacy can be understood as freedom of personal choice in matters of sharing intimacy, it is foundational to both community belonging and to social and political organizations at large. Ethical decisions on the use of data analytics technologies in health practices should also take into account the social effects of violating privacy.

Keywords:

• Privacy
• confidentiality
• bioethics
• health information technologies
• public health

This article is referred to by:

Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Privacy and Health Practices in the Digital Age”

Protecting Health Privacy through Reasonable Inferences

Regulatory Angels and Technology Demons? Making Sense of Evolving Realities in Health Data Privacy for the Digital Age

Protecting Privacy While Optimizing the Use of (Health)Data: The Importance of Measures and Safeguards

Privacy and the Genetic Community

Data, Privacy, and Agency: Beyond Transparency to Empowerment

Healthcare Organizations Should Be Accountable Stewards of Patient Data

Health Privacy, Racialization, and the Causal Potential of Legal Regulations

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential competing interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This articles was funded by Universidade of Brasília - Graduate Program in Bioethics, Grant No. 01.2021 PPGbioetica.