Has our obsession with privacy gone too far??

Privacy can be defined as the ability to control information about oneself, or being selective about what personal information gets disclosed, and to whom.

But too often, privacy protections seem simply to be an excuse for withholding reasonably expected information.

Example #1: the National Post reported last month that a scientist leading a government-funded research project had been caught fudging the data – clearly a most serious ethical breach of research conduct.   The scientist was employed by a Canadian university, but quit just before being discovered, taking up another position at another institution.

Even though taxpayer dollars funded the fraud, the scientist’s name and the university involved are being kept secret, ostensibly for privacy reasons.  (Neither is it being disclosed whether the scientist’s new institutional employer is aware of this fraudulent activity.)

Question – do taxpayers footing the bill deserve to know more detail in these situations of intentional ethical breach in government sponsored programs?

Example #2: our local hospital recently advised me that information collected during my stay (for an appendectomy) had been inappropriately accessed by a nurse not involved in my care.  I was among 5800 patients whose personal information was involved.

Initially, the hospital was reluctant to disclose the employee’s identity, and its resulting disciplinary action – again for reasons of privacy.

Isn’t that a bewildering twist of irony?  The nurse with intentionality and forethought reviews the private medical file of thousands of patients not under his/her care, and yet those patients are restricted from even knowing the nurse’s name!

Fortunately, the hospital has amended their initial position: if requested, the identity of the individual – who has been relieved of duties – will be disclosed.  But then what am I to do with the information?  Am I in some way vulnerable to an unauthorized party having my personal medical data?  How do I measure that risk?

All of this demonstrates the fear with which issues of privacy are being handled (or mishandled) in our culture.  The reason: wrongly handled personal information is a legal minefield.

But let’s turn it around.  Rather than being the victim, what if, because of something I’ve posted online, I’m seen as having violated the privacy of someone else?

Because of heightened sensitivity – particularly in the age of social media – we each need to think through our exposure to liability. Any legal minefield requires good advice – because many of us have exposures to liability that we haven’t before recognized.

A conversation about protection with your broker is a prudent first step.

Tags: privacy