A Privacy Preservation Model for Health-Related Social Networking Sites

Abstract

The increasing use of social networking sites (SNS) in health care has resulted in a growing number of individuals posting personal health information online. These sites may disclose users' health information to many different individuals and organizations and mine it for a variety of commercial and research purposes, yet the revelation of personal health information to unauthorized individuals or entities brings a concomitant concern of greater risk for loss of privacy among users. Many users join multiple social networks for different purposes and enter personal and other specific information covering social, professional, and health domains into other websites. Integration of multiple online and real social networks makes the users vulnerable to unintentional and intentional security threats and misuse. This paper analyzes the privacy and security characteristics of leading health-related SNS. It presents a threat model and identifies the most important threats to users and SNS providers. Building on threat analysis and modeling, this paper presents a privacy preservation model that incorporates individual self-protection and privacy-by-design approaches and uses the model to develop principles and countermeasures to protect user privacy. This study paves the way for analysis and design of privacy-preserving mechanisms on health-related SNS.

Promoting individual health using information technology: Trends in the US health system

“…Social networking sites have gained tremendous popularity as tools for health communication and community health monitoring because of their capacity to reach large audiences within a short period of time. Nevertheless, user privacy and security of health data remain a matter of concern among health consumers using social media (Li, 2015). Another novel approach to online health education is the use of personal websites and health blogs created by health enthusiasts, health professionals and students.…”

Information quality, privacy policies, and data safety practices in online social networks for health: A longitudinal analysis

“…In fact, site G is the only site that undergoes an outside audit of their policies and procedures for privacy or data security. Such audits are one method by which health‐related social networks can guard against threats to privacy (Li, ), so it is disappointing that more sites do not employ this safeguard.…”

Law and order of modern ophthalmology: Teleophthalmology, smartphones legal and ethics

“…A global model should be implemented in order to standardize the integration of privacy and security across multiple websites and applications and prevent conflict. 43…”

“…Regarding data protection, smartphones can be connected through multiple channels (network and wireless), all of which have security measures that protect privacy, yet there are ways that data can be leaked and privacy can be compromised, including abuse of data possession, accidental leaks, releasing the information to a third party, all of which amount to a greater threat of privacy loss. 43 According to the National Health Service (NHS), Patients' records are the most important and delicate data, and information security functions perfectly when all reasonable care is performed to prevent unauthorized access and deter any tampering that could occur. 44…”

“…42 Hi-Ethics consortium is a group of volunteers whose goal is to merge the websites and information of the most reliable health information providers in order to gain consumer confidence in digital health services. 43 Data protection considerations. The 1998 Data Protection Act implemented a set of rules to regulate the handling and processing of information regarding personal data, including storing, obtaining, recording, using, and disclosing information.…”