title: Privacy versus public health: the impact of current confidentiality rules.
abstract: Public health research and practice often have been facilitated through the evaluation and study of population-based data collected by local, state, and federal governments. However, recent concerns about identify theft, confidentiality, and patient privacy have led to increasingly restrictive policies on data access, often preventing researchers from using these valuable data. We believe that these restrictions, and the research impeded or precluded by their implementation and enforcement, have had a significant negative impact on important public health research. Members of the public health community should challenge these policies through their professional societies and by lobbying legislators and health officials to advocate for changes that establish a more appropriate balance between privacy concerns and the protection of public health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscatawa, NJ 08854, USA. dew@eohsi.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wartenberg
authors.forename: W Douglas
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016494:Computer Security / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011159:Population Surveillance; D018907:Privacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011634:Public Health / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States; D014798:Vital Statistics