According to mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. This was both a boon and a curse for mortal man. On the one hand, fire served as the foundation for civilization; on the other, fire easily destroyed what man had built. Left unchecked, fire would injureùor killùthose who sought to control it. According to Sara Baase in A Gift of Fire, computers are similar to fire in that they are both a boon and a curse. They have permeated our lives far more quickly than most technologies. Today, it is difficult to live life in the United Statesùindeed, in the developed worldùwithout interacting at some point with computers on a daily basis. Not only are the ubiquitous in the workplace and increasingly common throughout most of our homes, but they are also operating behind the scenes where many of us do not expect to find them. They are in thermostats, microwave ovens, and even in most automobiles. They track our purchases in stores, and with computers, it is possible to shop, buy, pay for and view or listen to music, books or movies on a desktop computer. Computers are also increasingly interconnected, so that information obtained for one purpose can be effortlessly and instantaneously sent to a different computer where it might be used for an entirely different purpose. While the government, business and healthcare industries have touted the benefits of being able to combine multiple databases and provide better service to customers and stakeholders, concerns have arisen that such access violates privacy and may even raise constitutional issues. This research considers key areas of electronic privacy, including medical databases and Internet issues.
MEDICAL DATABASE PRIVACY RESTRICTIONS
In December 2002, the Minnesota Health Department implemented a policy that patient-identifiable medical information from physicians and insurance companies could be collected without patient consent. An admin...