Canadians’ electronic health records need more protections to prevent foreign entities from accessing patient data, according to commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
“Canadian privacy law is badly outdated,” said Michael Geist, law professor and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa and co-author of the commentary. “We’re now talking about decades since the last major change.”
Geist says electronic medical records systems from clinics and hospitals — containing patients’ personal health information — are often controlled by U.S. companies. The data is encrypted and primarily stored on cloud servers in Canada, but because those are owned by American companies, they are subject to American laws.
Rad full story here: Canadians’ health data at risk of being handed over to U.S. authorities, experts warn | CBC News
