Summary
Objectives:
This contribution aims at introducing the problem of privacy protection in e-Health
and at describing a number of existing privacy enhancing techniques (PETs). The recognition
that privacy constitutes a fundamental right is gradually entering public awareness.
Because healthcare-related data are susceptible to being abused for many obvious reasons,
public apprehension about privacy has focused on medical data. Public authorities
have become convinced of the need to enforce privacy protection and make considerable
efforts for promoting through privacy protection legislation the deployment of PETs.
Methods:
Based on the study of the specific features of Grid technology, ways in which PET
services could be integrated in the HealthGrid are being analyzed. Grid technology
aims at removing barriers between local and remote resources. The privacy and legal
issues raised by the HealthGrid are caused by the transparent interchange and processing
of sensitive medical information. PET technology has already proven its usefulness
for privacy protection in health-related marketing and research data collection.
Results:
While this paper does not describe market-ready solutions for privacy protection
in the HealthGrid, it puts forward several cases in which the Grid may benefit from
PETs.
Conclusion:
Early integration of privacy protection services into the HealthGrid can lead to
a synergy that is beneficial for the development of the HealthGrid itself.
Keywords
Privacy - privacy enhancing techniques (PETs) - HealthGrid - Grid
