The legal acknowledgement of the electronic signature: a key for a secure direct access of patients to their computerised medical record.

Throughout Europe, patients may have direct access to their medical records and this has been true, even in France where previously only indirect access via a physician was available, since 4 March 2002. At present, the simplest solution is to give patients a copy of their paper medical record or, if it is computerised, to give them a printed record or even a copy on a machine readable storage medium. This arrangement of the communication process can be carried out ‘‘without constraint at reasonable intervals and without excessive delay or expense’’ as required by article 12 of the Directive ‘‘On the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data’’ [1]. The time allowed for the provision of access provides the opportunity for ensuring that the individual making the request can be properly authenticated and that any additional conditions on access, such as those allowed in article 13 section 1(g) allowed ‘‘for the protection of the Data Subject or the rights and freedoms of others’’ have been correctly observed. This current approach does not involve any particular risk to the information system but