The nation’s largest hospital systems are rapidly shifting sensitive health data into cloud storage platforms managed by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, and a growing number are reaching confidential data-sharing deals that leave patients in the dark about how the tech giants will use the information and protect their privacy.
A STAT investigation found that the particulars of the arrangements are as varied as they are widespread, with no uniform standard for preventing the misuse of personal information. For every data-management partnership, there appears to be a different set of rules governing what data are shared and to what extent.
