news
Opting out of health data sharing requires a notary
STAT Health Tech reports on the maddening hurdles to opt out of sharing personal health data from services like MyChart. Journalist Alex Rosenblat found that the process can involve obscure forms, notarized signatures, and physical mail. This highlights significant barriers for individuals trying to control their own sensitive medical information.
STAT Health Tech reports on the maddening hurdles to opt out of sharing personal health data from services like MyChart. Journalist Alex Rosenblat found that the process can involve obscure forms, notarized signatures, and physical mail. This highlights significant barriers for individuals trying to control their own sensitive medical information.
The architecture take
I read this and felt a familiar dread. You want to control your health data? Cool, just jump through a dozen bureaucratic hoops, maybe get a notary, definitely print and mail some things. It’s a classic move: make the default easy (share everything) and the alternative nearly impossible. This isn't about informed consent, it's about inertia. The industry wants your data for future AI models, for drug trials, for who knows what else, so they're building a system that nudges you to comply by making dissent too exhausting. It leaves your nervous system feeling a little tired and wired, knowing your medical history is out there, but doing anything about it feels like a second job. And that's the point, isn't it?