Think William Weld, the governor of Massachusetts who had his data re-identified by MIT students after challenging them that it couldn't be done (not smart, that)
There are at least a couple researchers at the National Library of Medicine who publish on this topic.
It is not a yes/no thing, there is only the balance between privacy and potentially groundbreaking research.
Realist/Cynic? - 6 years ago
Of course the data can be re-identified. Just by using a few of the PHI protected data item... zip, age, sex, dx... one could possibly determine to which of your neighbors the data belongs.
Think William Weld, the governor of Massachusetts who had his data re-identified by MIT students after challenging them that it couldn't be done (not smart, that)
There are at least a couple researchers at the National Library of Medicine who publish on this topic.
It is not a yes/no thing, there is only the balance between privacy and potentially groundbreaking research.
Of course the data can be re-identified. Just by using a few of the PHI protected data item... zip, age, sex, dx... one could possibly determine to which of your neighbors the data belongs.