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PrivacyHORIZON: Vol. 1, No. 5 |
The recent outbreak of SARS in Toronto is a wake-up call for the Canadian health care system and its ability to manage a public health crisis of significant proportions. Most of the confirmed cases can be tracked back to a single person who was unfortunate enough to spend some time in a Hong Kong hotel that proved to be a breeding ground for the virulent disease. In a world obsessed with biological weapons of mass destruction and where international travel is unrestricted, this case demonstrates the importance of stepping up our capacity to deal with biological threats, be they deliberate acts of terrorism or the emergence of a new and virulent strain of disease.
This is not to discount in any way the heroic efforts by public health officials and health care workers in Toronto and across Canada who dealt with the SARS outbreak. They performed admirably in spite of strained resources. They took personal risks to care for the victims and to contain the spread of the disease. It was apparent that officials would have benefited from improved information and communications technology to help manage the hundreds of suspected and confirmed cases and the thousands of people quarantined during the outbreak.
How would we have coped with a bio-terror attack with thousands or tens of thousands of cases? Not very well I would expect. The SARS outbreak stretched the resources of Canada's largest city to the limit. We need to build the critical public health infrastructure, including public health surveillance systems to cope with biological threats.
Of course privacy is a concern during such outbreaks. How do we balance public health issues against personal privacy? The good news is that a very solid consensus emerged during the SARS crisis that can be used as a model for managing privacy in the midst of such an event. From public health officials on the ground to the Federal Privacy Commissioner, important lessons have been learned that can guide us as we move forward. [More…]
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British Columbia Privacy Bill
The Government of British Columbia has introduced Bill 38 - 2003, the Personal Information Protection Act. If passed, this Act covering privacy in private sector is set to take effect on January 1, 2004. [click to read Bill 38] If deemed "substantially similar" by the Federal Government, this legislation will supersede the Federal Protection of Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) scheduled to take effect for most of the private sector on the same date.
However, the Federal Privacy Commissioner has expressed concerns about the Bill and written a letter to the BC Government indicating that the legislation will not meet the "substantially similar" test. [More…]
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Healthcare Privacy Codes of Practice
The BC Health Information Standards Council has published a proposed standard for Healthcare Privacy Codes of Practice (CoP) on its website. The CoP provides a framework to help healthcare organizations operationalize privacy principles and tackles the tricky issues of consent and data sharing amongst healthcare providers. [More…]
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Alberta PIA Summaries
The Alberta Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) publishes summaries of all Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) that have been accepted by the OIPC. This is a valuable resource for anyone conducting a PIA. [More…]
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During a speech to the Institute of Corporate Directors in Toronto on April 24, 2003, Mr. Radwanski was asked a question about the applicability of PIPEDA to physicians and hospitals. Mr. Radwanski replied that he believed that doctors were covered because they represent small businesses. He would not comment on the applicability of PIPEDA to hospitals as that was a "grey" area.
During a one-on-one interview with the Toronto Star, George Radwanski posed a number of questions about the use of electronic health records. The commissioner asked, "…why exactly do we need an electronic patient record. I haven't exactly heard doctors clamouring for it. So what purposes will be served? What is driving it? What's the evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks?" He further stated "I've made clear I'm neither for nor against electronic patient records at this point, simply because enough questions have not been answered yet to be able to take a clear view of it." [More…]
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Drop by the PRIVA-CTM booth at eHealth 2003 and speak to Brendan and our privacy experts about your privacy issues and concerns. Need ideas for implementing your privacy program? We'll be demonstrating our online training programs, assessment tools, and resource centre. [More…]
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