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Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Protecting Patient Privacy and Data Security

By Julie K. Taitsman, Christi Macrina Grimm, and Shantanu Agrawal
The New England Journal of Medicine - Perspective
February 27, 2013
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1215258

Here is one portion of the article.

STEPS TO PROTECT AND SECURE INFORMATION WHEN USING MOBILE DEVICES*

• Install and enable encryption
• Use a password or other user authentication
• Install and activate wiping, remote disabling, or both to erase data on lost or stolen devices
• Disable and do not install or use file-sharing applications
• Install and enable a firewall to block unauthorized access
• Install and enable security software to protect against malicious applications, viruses, spyware, and  malware-based attacks
• Keep security software up to date
• Research mobile applications before downloading
• Maintain physical control of mobile devices
• Use adequate security to send or receive health information over public Wi-Fi networks
• Delete all stored health information on mobile devices before discarding the devices

* Recommended by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

The entire article is here.

Thanks to Gary Schoener for this article.