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Strengthening Privacy in Healthcare Social Networks

  • Chapter
Medical Data Privacy Handbook

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present a comprehensive approach to the problem of privacy protection in healthcare social networks, to summarize threats and suggest emerging technological solutions to protect users. For this purpose we start with a definition of the term “privacy” and how it evolved through time. We continue within the context of social networks and highlight the main privacy issues and threats for network members. In addition, we analyze the Common Criteria for IT security evaluation that apply to privacy, under the prism of Healthcare Social Networks (HSNs) and present tools and methods that may enhance privacy in such networks. Finally, we provide examples of popular HSNs, categorized according to the purpose they serve and discuss the privacy challenges for them.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In autumn 2007, a weak security model has been reported for Sermo network, which allowed non-physician applicants to register as physicians using false identities from the Internet.

  2. 2.

    Infographic provided by MEdTech Media at: http://www.medtechmedia.com/files/medtech_images/Infographic_SOCIAL_MEDIA_SURVEY_AMN_HEALTHCARE.jpg

  3. 3.

    www.hhs.gov.

  4. 4.

    Health information privacy: business associates. Available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/businessassociates.html. Accessed June 5, 2015.

  5. 5.

    Privacy Enhancing Technologies—META Group Report v 1.1. 2005. Available for download from: https://danskprivacynet.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/rapportvedrprivacyenhancingtechno logies.pdf

  6. 6.

    HL7 Privacy, Access and Security Services (PASS) Specification. Ann Arbor, MI, USA: HL 7 International. Available for download from: http://wiki.siframework.org/file/view/PASS+Access+Control+Conceptual+Model+Release+1.0.pdf.

  7. 7.

    Social Media in Healthcare: Privacy and Security Considerations. HIMSS White Paper. Available for download from: http://himss.files.cms-plus.com/HIMSSorg/Content/files/Social_Media_Healthcare_WP_Final.pdf.

  8. 8.

    https://www.curediva.com/.

  9. 9.

    http://MedHelp.org.

  10. 10.

    https://ecouch.anu.edu.au.

  11. 11.

    http://www.connectedliving.com/.

  12. 12.

    https://www.patientslikeme.com/.

  13. 13.

    https://www.smartpatients.com/.

  14. 14.

    http://www.facetofacehealth.com.

  15. 15.

    http://sermo.com/.

  16. 16.

    http://www.nursetogether.com/.

  17. 17.

    https://www.doximity.com/.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics and Telematics, Harokopio University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Maria Bertsima & Iraklis Varlamis

  2. Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, Lesbos, Greece

    Panagiotis Rizomiliotis

Authors
  1. Maria Bertsima
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  2. Iraklis Varlamis
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  3. Panagiotis Rizomiliotis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Iraklis Varlamis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. IBM Research - Ireland, Mulhuddart, Dublin, Ireland

    Aris Gkoulalas-Divanis

  2. Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Grigorios Loukides

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Bertsima, M., Varlamis, I., Rizomiliotis, P. (2015). Strengthening Privacy in Healthcare Social Networks. In: Gkoulalas-Divanis, A., Loukides, G. (eds) Medical Data Privacy Handbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23633-9_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23633-9_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23632-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23633-9

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