Legal and Ethical Concerns about the Protection of Data from Computerized Medical Files Used in Epidemiology: An Update on the Situation

With the emergence of new information and communication technologies (NICT) in the daily practice of medicine, personal medical data have become exportable. Certainly, they represent an interesting source for epidemiologists who were often lacking complete data sets all the way through to morbidity data; but once these data leave the confines of the structure of a medical office, they must be protected in order to respect the fundamental ethical principles which form the basis of the doctor-patient relationship. Given the fact that medical data are not considered merchandise, there is the need to lead a process of reflection which aims to adapt the existing ethical rules and regulations to norms which conform to this new environment. There is also a need to compile a report on the overall European situation, and more specifically the French case.