A new federal initiative could allow Americans to share private medical information through apps run by tech companies. Dr. Celine Gounder joins "CBS Mornings" to explain the benefits and the privacy concerns.

Washington

The White House has introduced a proposal to streamline the process of sharing medical records by creating a digital health ecosystem involving more than 60 private companies, including major tech firms and healthcare providers. This system is designed to allow Americans to share their health data with various apps, including those that use artificial intelligence, to better manage health conditions and facilitate communication between healthcare providers.

However, the initiative has raised significant privacy concerns. Experts highlight that while healthcare providers are strictly regulated in handling patient data, many participating apps are not subject to the same standards and may profit from selling user information. Additional risks include potential data breaches, misuse of information by government agencies, and concerns over the integrity and transparency of health databases.

Health data plan raises privacy questions as firms join WH program

We begin this hour with something that we've all had to deal with, the frustrations of transferring our medical records to a new doctor's office. And then sometimes they ask you to fax it, that's a whole other thing. Now the White House is out with a new proposal that will supposedly make this process a lot easier. The program would allow Americans to share their personal data on apps run by private tech companies. More than 60 companies have agreed to participate. But the idea is raising privacy concerns. So to break it all down, Dr. Selene Gounder is here. She is a CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for Public Health at KFF Health News. Dr. Gounder, good morning. Good morning. So why is the government thinking about launching this system? Well, the administration is trying to make it safer and easier to be sharing medical information. So they're creating what they're calling a digital health ecosystem. This involves more than 60 different companies, including companies like Google or Amazon, Noom, the Cleveland Clinic. And it's to allow people to share their medical information with apps, including apps that use AI. So it might be your diet information, your exercise, your weight, et cetera. So you can better manage these kinds of health conditions. And then in addition, they're establishing a way to allow doctors and healthcare systems to exchange information. Right now, we still, in a lot of cases, rely on faxing. There are some local health information exchanges, but this makes it national to make it a lot easier to share that information. As Adriana mentioned, there are some privacy concerns. So who could be at risk when it comes to your privacy? Well, and this is a big question. So healthcare systems, doctors, we're regulated very tightly in how we use your health information. But if that information leaves and goes to an app that is not regulated in the same way, a lot of apps make money, most of them make money by selling data. Your information. You're selling your information. So that's number one. Do you have control over that? Do you know how your information is being used? Some apps have also had security leaks. We just heard about the dating app, Tea, that was just one in the latest of a string of these. Secondly, could your information be misused? So there are over 20 states right now suing the Trump administration for using or trying to use Medicaid data and giving that to ICE for immigration crackdowns. You might say, I'm not an immigrant. My family's been here since the Mayflower. Well, what if they gave your information to the IRS or the DEA or ATF? So there's some real concerns about that. And then finally, how will the data be potentially changed or manipulated? And we've seen just recently a paper published in The Lancet showing that a number of public health databases, they've been manipulating sex and gender. That may not sound like a big deal, but is that just the tip of the iceberg? We've seen a lot of websites taken down, thousands. So there are real concerns about the integrity and transparency of the data. Yeah. I mean, in theory, it sounds good. It makes it easier for people to have access to their data, but the concerns that you raise, whenever private companies get involved with, let's face it, their bottom line is making money. No doubt about it. Well said, Blaine. Trust. It's all about trust. All about trust. Thank you very much, Dr. Gounder.

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