Want millions of people to read your health records?

Technology just keeps marching on, and here’s another US import I hope we manage to avoid. Mega search engine Google has just got access to millions of prescription records as they announced a partnership between CVS/pharmacy, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the U.S. and Google Health.

Google Health currently allows people to import their medical records from over a dozen pharmacies, medical centers, and health insurance providers and once imported, you can review those records and keep them updated. So no more wondering just what prescription you need renewing because with a click of a mouse you can send it to your regular pharmacist to be filled. If you have bought your drugs from any of the major pharmaceutical chains Google now has all that information on record, but how confident are we that it cannot be hacked or accessed by others?

I can quite see how attractive it would be for an online supplier of non-prescription medicines to want your details so they send you attractive offers to buy online – and if they know what you are buying then they know what you are buying it for so any level of privacy or confidentiality could be breached. Medical insurers too could find it very useful to know what medicines you are regularly taking as it might affect your cover, or their liability.

Am I being paranoid or is Big Brother not only here but keeping an eye on my medicines?