Your Personal Information - Do You Volunteer It?

[craigos]

The whole My Health Record thing (https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/for-you-your-family/opt-out-my-health-record) got me wondering, am I the only person that really tries to limit their personal information being out their in the cyber world, man?

If you haven't read up about the my health record stuff, I suggest you do.

Frequent flyer points, supermarket rewards, retail store memberships etc etc. Are you happy to volunteer all your personal info, spending habits and the like in the knowledge that this information is 100% sold on?

 

[Gigantic]

Facebook activity, your browsing history on Google, Youtube searches etc.

Some people are happy to sacrifice their privacy for convenience - to get more tailored content. Some people would rather see an ad of a new television they've been thinking of getting than an ad of a lonely mum in your local area.

Companies are better informed on their products and services because they're able to collect more information from their customers. This helps them improve their products and services. It's a double-edged sword, really.

Technically speaking, corporations can get away with it a lot of it because, for example, consumer data from points and rewards systems can be altered in such a way to move outside the realm of "personal information". And we don't really have very protective privacy laws in Australia to begin with.

It's concerning though.

 

[exe ex machina]

I obscure my personal information as much as possible so that I can remain a free man

 

[Demosthenes]

The health record stuff is a bit different to frequent flyer programs. If you're being rushed unconscious into hospital, there's a pretty significant advantage to the treating doctor being able to immediately tap into your entire medical history - pre-existing conditions, family predispositions, medical alerts and so forth.

That sort of information will never be sold, but it is certainly at risk of being stolen. Personally I don't have a ton of faith in government's ability to protect data, but in the case of my health I think the risk is worth the benefits.

When it comes to trading away my date of birth for a discount on wine or the chance to win a holiday - not so much.

 

[perthblue]

I was quite callous about it until a couple years ago when I was the victim of identity theft. Now I don't even like giving my first name away.

 

[craigos]

The health record stuff is a bit different to frequent flyer programs. If you're being rushed unconscious into hospital, there's a pretty significant advantage to the treating doctor being able to immediately tap into your entire medical history - pre-existing conditions, family predispositions, medical alerts and so forth.

That sort of information will never be sold, but it is certainly at risk of being stolen. Personally I don't have a ton of faith in government's ability to protect data, but in the case of my health I think the risk is worth the benefits.

When it comes to trading away my date of birth for a discount on wine or the chance to win a holiday - not so much.

This has been happening since Hospitals existed though and how many people have lost their life because the people in the emergency department didn't have immediate access to their records? And your previous history isn't being uploaded, just your information from tomorrow onward.

 

[Demosthenes]

Well, something like 3% of hospital admissions are caused by medication errors and there is approximately 1 error for every 10 medication administrations in hospital. A lot of medication errors are driven by the prescribing doctor or administering nurse having incomplete patient information, so anything that improves that is probably a good thing.

 

[DidakDelight]

The my health record database will be available to a lot of agencies. It has apparently no footprint or logs of who checks who.

What does this mean? Bored receptionists at a doctors clinic looking up old high school acquaintances.
Vulnerable Employees with access to it being stood over or extorted for info on where certain people live.

It will essentially be the most important database in the country available to people with the lowest security clearance.

Spending habits - really who cares, give me the frequent flyer points or the discounts please.

 

[RelaxMax]

The health record stuff is a bit different to frequent flyer programs. If you're being rushed unconscious into hospital, there's a pretty significant advantage to the treating doctor being able to immediately tap into your entire medical history - pre-existing conditions, family predispositions, medical alerts and so forth.

That sort of information will never be sold, but it is certainly at risk of being stolen. Personally I don't have a ton of faith in government's ability to protect data, but in the case of my health I think the risk is worth the benefits.

When it comes to trading away my date of birth for a discount on wine or the chance to win a holiday - not so much.

No, no and **** no

 

[Demosthenes]

It has apparently no footprint or logs of who checks who.

Source?

 

[the_interloper]

I do limit it as much as I can. I bought a microwave a month ago and they asked for my phone number, I said I wouldn’t give it. They thought it was weird but I didn’t have to. Everyone else on the queue rattled it off without any issue though, odd.

 

[Kram]

 

[perthblue]

I do limit it as much as I can. I bought a microwave a month ago and they asked for my phone number, I said I wouldn’t give it. They thought it was weird but I didn’t have to. Everyone else on the queue rattled it off without any issue though, odd.

Yeah this is the stuff I take notice of now. Cashiers will legit look at you like you're an undercover ISIS spy if you don't want to give your contact information away. Piss off. I give you money, you give me thing, end of transaction.

 

[craigos]

Yeah this is the stuff I take notice of now. Cashiers will legit look at you like you're an undercover ISIS spy if you don't want to give your contact information away. Piss off. I give you money, you give me thing, end of transaction.

Can I please have your postcode?

So the my health record site crashed and the deadline to opt out has been extended. If you hadn't have been worried before I am sure you are now.

Not to mention:

The chairman of the agency responsible for the bungled My Health Record rollout has been privately advising a global healthcare outsourcing company.

The Herald discovered the relationship between the UK based government contracting giant Serco and the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) chairman Jim Birch after obtaining internal documents that detail the board members' conflicts of interest.

 

[Gralin]

It is interesting that they have extended the opt out period
That they have changed it so that law enforcement agencies now need a court order to access your information and that insurers will no longer have access to it

They have also now changed it so you can cancel your account and they are meant to delete your record not hold it for 30 years after your death

So they are heading in the right direction but still a lot of questions that need answering

 

[CheapCharlie]

Keep it private. Don't bother with loyalty cards or Facebook. Usually use a secondary email account to sign up online

 

[Deliverance]

Don't see why MyHealth is such an outrage to people. Geez, everyone gives away there data constantly for the benefits of big companies. Big Data is one if the most valuable commodities in the world today and everyone just gives it up. Every time you think your getting something for free, you're not. Your cost is you personally information given to third parties to do with it what they wish. People's data is served up to big business in bulk every day. Sleep patterns, location, search engine info, drs appointments and the list goes on. No one ever reads the fine details when they sign up to anything. All of a sudden everyone is outraged about their personal data with MyHealth. Lol

 

[utility]

I try to protect my privacy as much as possible. I tend to pay most things with cash.

 

[Gigantic]

Don't see why MyHealth is such an outrage to people. Geez, everyone gives away there data constantly for the benefits of big companies. Big Data is one if the most valuable commodities in the world today and everyone just gives it up. Every time you think your getting something for free, you're not. Your cost is you personally information given to third parties to do with it what they wish. People's data is served up to big business in bulk every day. Sleep patterns, location, search engine info, drs appointments and the list goes on. No one ever reads the fine details when they sign up to anything. All of a sudden everyone is outraged about their personal data with MyHealth. Lol

Except that's wherein the problem lies. Companies, third parties, data controllers, processors etc. should not be able to use or disclose information outside of consented purpose. Obviously, in my cases people don't even realise what they have consented to when ticking accept at the bottom of your screen when visiting a site for the first time. But that's because they don't know any better.

The attention the MyHealth Records has attracted is great for public awareness of privacy. This is what Australia needs if it wants to move towards having better privacy regulations like Europe.

Personally, I don't have much trust in companies, small or big, to secure my personal information. We're seeing a huge increase in data breaches and gross mispractice with privacy compliance than ever before.

 

[Deliverance]

Companies, third parties, data controllers, processors etc. should not be able to use or disclose information outside of consented purpose.

That's right. People have no idea what happens to their data. So this faux outrage over MyHealth bamboozled me because people are so loose with their data for much more meaningless online activities.

 

[Gigantic]

That's right. People have no idea what happens to their data. So this faux outrage over MyHealth bamboozled me because people are so loose with their data for much more meaningless online activities.

At least with a lot of the other information people give up in their daily life they are doing it through their own voluntary actions, whether they know it or not.

Personally, my issue with MyHealth is moreso how they're implementing the system with the opt-out system rather than an opt-in consent-based system. There's no arguing that an opt-out scheme solicits a larger participation rate, albeit involuntarily in most cases, than an opt-in scheme would (they did a study comparing countries using opt-in vs out-out for organ donation, there's a huge disparity).

I just hope people kicking up a storm about MyHealth actually educate themselves on how the same thing could be happening in other areas of their life too.

 

[MWPP]

I was originally happy to be part of this initiative , especially as I'll be using it at my work. Recent events made me belatedly opt out though

 

[Hawk Dork]

you cant trust anyone
Ive had 2 lots of identity theft and I dont FB twitter or anything

 

[William Wonka]

I was originally happy to be part of this initiative , especially as I'll be using it at my work. Recent events made me belatedly opt out though

I was initially worried that I was being unnecessarily paranoid in opting out.

The fact that you are both a doctor and someone who rarely indulges in wild bouts of radical nonconformity means I now feel validated that my decision was the correct one.

 

[MWPP]

I was initially worried that I was being unnecessarily paranoid in opting out.

The fact that you are both a doctor and someone who rarely indulges in wild bouts of radical nonconformity means I now feel validated that my decision was the correct one.

I don't think you're being unnecessarily paranoid at all. Many of my colleagues opted out well before me due to concerns about security , the possibility of data being made available to third parties such as insurance companies or AHPRA and ultimately that it may be professionally detrimental. Furthermore, the UK version had its issues. It was discussed in depth at work, but also within our online support groups, and anecdotally at least there are far more opt-outs amongst healthcare workers than the general population (which says it all really).

Despite sharing many these concerns, I stayed in by default (by not opting out) for ages because I didn't want to feel like a hypocrite (since I'd be using it for work) and valued safety over privacy. It was a bad experience at work (ironic right) which made me change my mind.