WHat is the deal wit privacy for privacy's sake?

Question

Privacy IS important! I don't want people to know my police record; don't want people to know if I was being trated for syphlis and don't want people to know my banking password. but in each of those cases there is a tangible, in most cases there is no tangible loss if people find out information about me. In many cases ther is no way to keep things private! If you walk out of a Doctor's office with a cast on you arm, people are going to KNOW, you have a fracture - wether the doctor lets people know or not. If you are acting like a bipolar, people do not need to read your medical record. If you drnk and drive, people are going to know you are a drunk.
There is only one P in HIPAA and it does not stand for 'Privacy'. Yet all that is done in name of HIPAA is litigation in the name of privacy. Privacy is important but when it cmaes in the way of people's safety and the extent to which they can be served by health care profassionals and national security, we need to think again. Agree?

Answer 1

Information that seems inconsequential can be aggregated and used in many ways. The simplest way to protect people from abusive uses of their own information is to seal it all.

- 'Acting like bipolar' at some point in your life will not prevent you from getting a job. If your records are not private, being treated for being bipolar can cost you a job.

- Health information can be used for political purposes to custom-tailor political advertisements to remove parts of the program that the recipient would not agree with. All elderly? Cut wasteful education costs. All young? Cut social security increases. All healthy? Free the Pharmaceutical industry from taxes.

- Health information can be used to create a whisper-campaign against a political candidate. (Has candidate X been treated for cancer? Had plastic surgery?)

- If you drank in your youth but no longer drink - is that something everyone already knows about you? If it was public then, how do you seal it now? Too late.

- If you were treated as a teenager for depression, but not in the last 40 years, should that information be public? Everyone who knew you then already knows...according to your logic.

Answer 2

I agree with what you are saying. Thing that bothers me is NOW when you look for a job or try to find a place to live, EVERYONE can know your business. You have to approve of them doing background checks on you which includes credit. That's not right. A Lot of people have bad credit for whatever reasons. Mine are for things out of our control. I don't need an employer to know that nor do I need my landlord knowing about everything.

Answer 3

ever one should have privacy i agree