Re: Lady Di's medical records

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

> A laptop containing Lady Di's medical records has been stolen out of her
> therapists office. Seems that the British press is holding its breath
> expecting the thief to forward any found information to the newsrags.
> 
> This is the second time that the royal family could have been saved
> potentially great embarrassment by the use of encryption. For those who
> forgot: the first time was when Price Charles adulterous conversations on
> an non-encrypted cell phone were intercepted and made public by the press.
> 
> Cypherpunks help royals ;-) ?
> 
> -- Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>  PGP public key by finger
> 

Legal liability by the therapist could help even more. The safe
manufacturers were driven to develop better safes not by exhorting
customers to buy better safes, but by the actual financial incentives
induced by the insurers...buy a stronger safe and rates go down. 

Likewise, lose your client's confidential medical/psychiatric records,
end up paying $2,000,000 in damages...your insurer will then
incentivize customers to use better security.

(The value of insurance or other secondary markets cannot be ignored:
people rarely think an even will occur to them, so they are
unresponsive to specific risks. But insurers can make the market more
communicative and liquid.)

I understand that in California, shrinks have a duty to protect
records. I expect encryption is spreading. I also expect that many of
them are worried about the trend to force disclosure of patient
records. (Such as with the Tarasoff ruling on patients who make
threats, the various other loopholes for breaking doctor-patient
privilege, the various "discovery" procedures in court cases, and so
on.)

(Watch for software key escrow to fold this in: mandated encryption of
records, but American Psychiatric Association and California State
Mental Health Association the designated escrow sites. For example.)

--Tim May


-- 
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Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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