E-health opt-out records a 'huge invasion of privacy'

The Privacy Foundation has accused the Australian Senate of ignoring privacy concerns in making the e-health record system opt-out.
 
By Corinne Reichert | November 11, 2015
 
The Australian Privacy Foundation has accused the Senate of being "dangerously naive" in thinking that opt-out e-health records could be secured against breaches of privacy.
Bernard Robertson-Dunn, a member of the Privacy Foundation who has also constructed IT systems for several government departments, said it is "patently absurd" for the Senate inquiry committee to think that Australian laws will do anything to deter criminals and cyber attacks from overseas.
 
The Senate had said it would institute penalties for privacy breaches in order to address concerns over the misuse of confidential medical information.
 
The Senate had ignored expert advice by changing the e-health records to be opt-out, according to the Privacy Foundation, with the likelihood of personal information being stolen and published in an attack similar to the Ashley Madison hack increasing with the more data that is stored.
 
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