Google’s analysis of large amounts of health data to detect trends in causes and outcomes may fall under the realm of population health,
Deutsch said.
For example, if a certain type of cancer is prevalent in a given region or population segment, data analysis would help determine the common characteristics of the patients and what treatments might be most effective.
But patient contact information or personal identification is not needed to pull off such an analysis,
Deutsch added.
And there is an added threat that the shared data could be compromised.
“There is no danger of accidental identity breaches if they don’t have the data in the first place,” she said.