Posted by Jerry Stuckle on 11/19/93 11:46

veg_all@yahoo.com wrote:
> Jerry Stuckle wrote:
>
>
>>So - if you value your freedom, any personal information having to do with the
>>medical field has to be guarded with even more care than credit card and social
>>security numbers. The law is very strict and penalties severe.
>
>
> I dont understand the logic behind this. If someone steals my cc and
> ssn, I lose thousands of dollars and enormous amounts of time. If
> someoen finds out I have a doctor's appointment at 2PM, what is the
> loss? Regardless of what the law says, the two breaches are not of the
> sams magnitude. Plus there tons of people trying to hack and find cc
> and ssn numbers, but how many people are hacking to find medical
> information? I understand what you are saying about the HIPAA law, but
> it does not seem very practical.
>

No, the breach of medical information can be even more severe. For instance -
what if that doctor is an oncologist? That suggests a potential case of cancer.
And if that news got out, it could cost you your job, your insurance and worse.

A credit card number getting out is a hassle in comparison. I know - I've had
it happened when a database was hacked. Not fun, and it took some work to
straighten it out, but that I did.

As for whether you think it's practical or not - it is the law. And violating
it can land you in prison.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
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