LETTER IN THE NEW YORK
TIMES 3/7/05
Only those who don't care if their
medical information is public should presently risk using e-mail
for private medical data.
As a licensed health care professional,
who designs Web sites for health care professionals and is
trained in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act, I have seen many encryption products promising security.
They may be satisfactory for information kept on secure servers,
but are inadequate for e-mail. Passwords and encryption can be
cracked, especially in patients' underprotected, hackable
computers.
If you think identity theft and spam
e-mail are bad now, don't let convenience and price lure you
into a false sense of security.
Until really secure e-mail becomes
available, e-mailed medical information is just waiting to be
stolen by telemarketers, blackmailers and others interested in
your personal information.
Carol Goldberg
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