Protecting privacy to protect mental health: the new ethical imperative

Confidentiality is a central bioethical principle governing the provider–patient relationship. Dating back to Hippocrates, new laws have interpreted it for the age of precision medicine and electronic medical records. This is where the discussion of privacy and technology often ends in the scientifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical ethics Vol. 45; no. 9; pp. 604 - 607
Main Author: Aboujaoude, Elias
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics 01.09.2019
BMJ
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
Subjects:
Big Data
Bioethics
Computerized medical records
Confidentiality
confidentiality/privacy
Educational research
Ethics
Health information
Information technology
Internet
law
Medical records
Medical technology
Medicine
Mental health
Mental health services
Original research
Patients
Personal control
Precision medicine
Privacy
Psychological development
Psychological well being
psychology
Research methodology
Right of privacy
social control of science/technology
Social networks
New York
United States > US
confidentiality/privacy
law
psychology
ethics
social control of science/technology
ISSN:0306-6800, 1473-4257, 1473-4257
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Confidentiality is a central bioethical principle governing the provider–patient relationship. Dating back to Hippocrates, new laws have interpreted it for the age of precision medicine and electronic medical records. This is where the discussion of privacy and technology often ends in the scientific health literature when Internet-related technologies have made privacy a much more complex challenge with broad psychological and clinical implications. Beyond the recognised moral duty to protect patients’ health information, clinicians should now advocate a basic right to privacy as a means to safeguard psychological health. The article reviews empirical research into the functions of privacy, the implications for psychological development and the resigned sentiment taking hold regarding the ability to control personal data. The article concludes with a call for legislative, educational and research steps to readjust the equilibrium between the individual and ‘Big Data’.
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ISSN:0306-6800
1473-4257
1473-4257
DOI:10.1136/medethics-2018-105313