In terms of privacy, even without obvious identifiers it is possible to single a person out based on just a couple pieces of seemingly harmless demographics, especially if the disease is uncommon.

For broad stroke observations, I think the ideas like the Google Flumap have a place. But until someone comes up with a quick and secure way to provide medical data that providers are willing to support, getting sufficient info to quickly identify a local outbreak from the national or state level will remain difficult.

I would like to see a separate platform for this as there is a lot of noise on twitter and it may have entry barriers to many physicians due to the pop nature that it has taken.

Good, well thought out post and hopefully something that catches on.

Back in the day it was illegal to do surveillance en masse on US Citizens.

Americans took their privacy seriously. Now, as a result of 9/11, we are used to having our privacy encroached upon. We hardly blink anymore.

General Impression:

On the surface Social Media is a great method of communication, and yes, it is a great way of collecting the massive amounts of data needed in order to track diseases.

We must also realize that this is a new avenue of surveillance of the American people. And its all voluntary. Each time I tweet I am broadcasting my heart and head to thousands of people potentially. Yes, twitter et al are powerful tools and in the wrong hands potentially powerful weapons.

We may not have concerns now, but one day some of us may regret losing our freedom to lead private lives. We may have peace and safety now, but we must learn from the examples set by those in other countries. Do we really think it couldn’t happen here? Think about what YOU are giving up.

More Specifically About Some Concerns:

When a doc tweets about patients seen in his clinic that day, month, etc…electronic records of patients can be matched up very easily especially with electronic health records….by anyone not just .gov or .mil or . com…hackers who will sell to the highest bidder. We could be targeted, spammed by companies who know every hang nail, every corn or pimple.

Also, if docs are tweeting this nfo people will inevitably begin tweeting information which should really remain private. Thinking about a severe pandemic, tweeting about illness could place people in danger. For this reason, this may also seem like an attempt at an end run around HIPAA. People will reveal their issues.

another concern…

When we tweet our IPs are revealed, our mobile information etc. People can be tracked right to their front door these days by just about anyone.

Not Just Stats

Doctor-patient confidentiality could potentially no longer exist at some point.

Last But NOT Least:

This is also a national security issue as well.

If we are tweeting about our local, regional, national, vulnerabilities during, for example, a severe pandemic…well, “lose lips sink ships”

Just some rambling thoughts about your eloquent post.

I am aware of the dire need for this information, but I side with the right to privacy.

As For Me and Mine:

We will opt out of any system which utilizes electronic health records of any kind. I know that they reduce the work load, reduce errors, and all the other benefits. They still do not tip the scale in their favor. Privacy concerns remain the focus, for us anyway.

just my 2c