Letters to the NYT Article in the previous are nea
Post# of 22456
WesternMass
Here And NowDec. 8
Times Pick
I beg to differ. I used to teach HIPAA compliance classes in the NYS Dept of Health. This is personally identifiable medical information, and if it isn’t a clear HIPAA violation it is dancing right on the edge of one depending on what exactly gets done with the data. Given the Trump administration’s track record on literally everything else, I have zero confidence that whatever they do with that data will be the right thing.
4 Replies64 Recommend
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Irene Brophy commented December 8
I
Irene Brophy
CTDec. 8
Times Pick
What about HIPAA laws? Providers are not allowed to share your medical information with other parties unless you (the patient) permit it by signing a release form. That’s a federal law.
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Doc commented December 8
D
Doc
BaltimoreDec. 8
Times Pick
I have nothing to add to the debate about personal privacy or the politics, but I want to point out that if such a database is not secured and strongly encrypted, there is an obvious opportunity for our adversaries (you know who they are) to use this list to send disinformation to vaccine recipients disrupting the program. This is a national security (not personal privacy) issue. An unencrypted registry should be a non-starter for everyone.
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Hal commented December 8
H
Hal
WashingtonDec. 8
Times Pick
Why am I not surprised that an administration that avoided responsibility for centrally implementing public health practices - including wearing masks - and openly urged people in some states to resist state governors’ orders for safe practices, would now reverse course and demand centralized invasive personal data reporting.
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Susan Shurin commented December 8
S
Susan Shurin
San Diego CaDec. 8
Times Pick
Amazing that this would be required! There are ways to get needed demographics while preserving privacy. Undermining trust will make all this phenomenal work useless.
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Bill commented December 8
B
Bill
USADec. 8
Times Pick
By the time I get the vaccine Trump will no longer be in office. I trust Mr. Biden will demand this database be scrapped. This is not "Brave New World", the citizenry of this country have to be able to expect a modicum of privacy even in 2020/2021.
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MM commented December 8
M
MM
ManhattanDec. 8
Times Pick
There is no need for personally identifiable information to be collected by the federal government. Age, gender, race, and zip code ought to be enough for public health vaccine distribution effectiveness tracking, and similar anonymized data re adverse events should be reported by health care professionals as they are noted. Industries where proof of vaccination is required (eg, schools and hospitals) can be handled individually with an immunization record the same way it is now. Strange that this is being requested by the administration routinely pandering to the “it’s a hoax” crowd- this data isn’t collected for flu vaccines.
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John McFeely commented December 8
J
John McFeely
Miami, FLDec. 8
Times Pick
There is absolutely no need for the Government to register the names of vaccine recipients to achieve its stated goals. I work in the HIV field. We routinely collect data on age, race, gender, comorbidities, and even immigration status without reporting the names of folks receiving services. I would add that this is for federally funded services and a lethal infectious disease, just like Covid 19.
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BA commented December 8
B
BA
NYCDec. 8
Times Pick
More of the police state with which the Trump administration seems so enamored. Another way to find undocumented people and persecute them. This administration really doesn't have a bottom with respect to how low they can sink. I hope this can be reversed. Revolting. January 20 can't come soon enough.
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Paul commented December 8
P
Paul
New YorkDec. 8
Times Pick
If the government wants our data, then we should have universal healthcare in return. Seems like a fair trade.
5 Replies584 Recommend
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