We have
all heard about potential or current employers searching applicants’ or
employees’ social network sites to ensure they are projecting the image the company
desires. Although this certainly brings
up questions concerning privacy and ethics, what about privacy issues regarding
medical information? The article “Is
Your Doctor Spying on Your Tweets? Social Media Raises Medical Privacy
Questions” explores one aspect of this question by discussing an issue with a
young man in need of a liver transplant.
The man would not be placed on the waiting list for a new liver unless he
could remain sober. Although he stated
that he had not had a drink in a year, a person on the transplant team viewed
his Twitter account which contained a recent picture that he had posted of
himself surrounded by alcoholic beverages and raising a drink to consume
it. This situation raises many questions
concerning personal information posted on the internet. Adding to the complications, not all privacy
intrusions are necessarily bad.
Sometimes information can be gained that will aid people, such in the
case of use by law enforcement to assist in finding missing persons. Other times, as with the young man in the
article, the information raises a multitude of ethical questions. Did the member of the transplant team have a
right to look at the man’s social media sites and send the findings to his other
health care professionals? Although there is little doubt the young man in this
situation lied about his alcohol consumption, what if he would commit to
sobriety once he received a new liver, but will now be denied the opportunity? On
the other hand, if he had received the organ and continued to drink, a
deserving person would have been deprived of the liver they so needed. Would the situation be different if someone
else had posted the picture? So where is
the line drawn? Should people in certain
positions, such as those in the healthcare industry, be able to use information
for these kinds of decisions, or is this an unethical invasion of privacy? The answers to these questions are far from
clear-cut, but what is certain is that the ethics concerning the use of personal
information gained on the internet needs to be examined.
This is an interesting topic. Personally, when a person posts something on the internet they need to be aware that privacy isn't guaranteed. Anyone and everyone has the right to search the web. If a healthcare physician finds information as stated in the article, then I believe they have every right to report it. That young man lied about consuming alcohol and got caught because of his negligence. the internet isn't a safe place to upload personal information that should be disclosed.
ReplyDeleteAs much as this situation is unfortunate for that person it just puts to light the importance of screening what you put on the internet. Anyone can search you and use your information.
ReplyDeleteWhat you put on the internet is available for everyone to see for their viewing pleasure. Celebrities, Athletes , and even politicians are learning this the hard way. People should use morals and common sense before posting things on the internet, not only are your future employers going to see this, but friends, family and strangers as well. Do not obligate yourself to post nonsense on the internet and I agree with Paige you have to screen what you put on the interne because anyone can see what you post and may possible use that information or information you have posted to hurt you socially or even physically.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know that doctors are now looking into their patients social media sites too. Like the posters above, I agree everyone should act as if everyone in the world could see their profile whether is is on "private" or not. The young man in this article did make the mistake of not telling the truth. I believe when it comes to this serious of a matter in deciding on transplants a doctor need to consider all angles of a person because it is such a serious matter with such few resources. Now if the young man would have been honest maybe the outcome could have been different.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, you shouldn't post anything on the internet that you don't want someone to use to steal your identity or personal info. The internet makes our life easier but it also makes stealing our personal info easier.
ReplyDeletePeople should have the right to privacy. However on those websites used to put information on, people agree to have the information in a form of public record and able to be sold. So to think badly about employers using these sites to implement better hiring processes, is only a problem when you are putting bad things up on those websites to begin with. Better control and restrictions to what is on your social media sites will ultimately improve that situation.
ReplyDelete