This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I am a physician at the University of Utah School of Medicine. The school and University Hospital make strenuous efforts to protect the privacy and confidentiality of health records; all electronic health records are encrypted.
Under the law known as HIPPA, the federal government exacts severe financial penalties for failure to protect privacy and confidentiality.
Thus it is extremely distasteful to learn that the government spies at the National Security Agency have broken the encryption of all medical records in the world.
The fines levied on hospitals and physicians for violating HIPPA are helping to pay for the government to violate the privacy of us and our patients.
Congress has created a monster in the secret intelligence agencies. We should no longer elect presidents, representatives and senators who willfully fund and order this spying.
Nathan Leon Pace
Salt Lake City