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Tim Cook wrote:
| | If this is true....what method(s) are the GP's using to prevent exposing | private patient data to modification and/or interception by third | parties? | What I find more interesting is the data, or more precisely, the lack of it, that supports technology to prevent modification and/or interception by third parties.
We take it as a fundamental assumption that because it's technologically doable (the compromise of data), it must be prevented. Some countries even write regulations and laws about it.
But there are many things in this world that have adverse consequences as a result of technology. What made this one reach such an exalted state of concern?
Actually, it's the latter question that really interests me, because when I started to investigate what the magnitude of the problem was, I discovered the lack of evidence.
There is certainly the fundamental risk equation which balances costs of implementation against potential costs of compromise. One argument goes that if the implementation cost is extremely low, we need not calculate the potential compromise cost. I think that is true for SSL on the Web, at least when it comes to the cost of labor for implementation, which is extremely low. The impact on transaction costs is another thing, but once again, that is rarely calculated.......
My current favorite theory to explain why we elevate some consequences into standard practice, in the absence of evidence, is a combination of the following social phenomena mixed with low labor costs of implementation:
Fear of the 'bad guy', i.e. the bogeyman will get ya.
Technological imperative, i.e. more technology is better then less technology.
What I ultimately would like to understand, and use this security case as nothing more than an example (i.e., it's not special in and of itself), is how those two social phenomena are driving the informational transformation of medicine. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
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