Google Flu Trend Tool: A Public Health Service or An Invasion of Privacy?
November 12, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Announcements, Computers, Health, Misc., Morning News, Prevention
Hands up anyone who, when they are feeling unwell or concerned about a health issue, does a google search?
If you put your hand up, you are in the majority. Seems that these days, instead of heading to the doctor or the local pharmacist, we all head to the internet. It’s quick, convenient, helpful, and apparently, also trackable as a new google tracking tool proves.
Google debuted the Google Flu Trend Tool on Tuesday.
Working on the theory that it’s more likely to be a flu outbreak in places where flu-related search terms are currently popular, this tracking tool follows any increased flu-related search terms to determine where in the U.S. flu outbreaks may be occurring. This information is given to the federal government’s CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) agency.
From a medical point of view, sounds like the perfect way for health professionals to keep up with current flu activity level in their own state or city.
But is it also an invasion of a person’s privacy?
If they can track people’s searches for ‘flu symptoms’ and ‘flu treatments’ what’s to stop them from tracking other searches such, say for example ‘AIDS symptoms and treatments’ or ‘SARS symptoms and treatments’?
A company statement says that the Flu Trends Tool can’t be used to identify individual users. But we all know that every single computer connected to the internet has it’s own unique protocol address which does reveal its exact location to Google.
It’s an interesting dilemma and one that, no doubt, will be debated by those concerned with privacy issues.
Would love to know what you all think.
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Well, considering they were already keeping track of your search terms and knew what state you live in, to me, they’re just trying to use this info for some good now.
I’m torn on this. Sounds like a good way to provide a public service, but Google (and the Internet at large) is a peeping tom.
I’m sitting on the fence with this at the moment. As a health professional, it looks like a great resource, but I also wonder sometimes about how all this affects individuals privacy.