This chapter discusses privacy principles that are valuable in making judgments about the use and disclosure of personal information, the legal requirements governing health statistical information, and some policy and practical problems encountered in managing this information. Public health practitioners need an ethical and conceptual framework for making decisions about the use and disclosure of identifiable information about individuals. Tradition and ethical commitment, often supported by legal protections, have provided that framework and resulted in careful stewardship of personal...

This chapter discusses privacy principles that are valuable in making judgments about the use and disclosure of personal information, the legal requirements governing health statistical information, and some policy and practical problems encountered in managing this information. Public health practitioners need an ethical and conceptual framework for making decisions about the use and disclosure of identifiable information about individuals. Tradition and ethical commitment, often supported by legal protections, have provided that framework and resulted in careful stewardship of personal health information. Current developments in information and communications technology present new problems for that stewardship. They call for continuing attention to ensure that policy, legal, and technical measures to protect sensitive information keep pace with those developments.