Google Inc has unveiled a plan to help U.S. patients gain control of their medical records and is working with doctors' groups, pharmacies and labs to help them securely share sensitive health data.

The company's long-rumored entry into the highly sensitive field came when Chief Executive Eric Schmidt introduced Google Health at a health-care conference in Florida on Thursday.

Google's biggest rival, Microsoft Corp, has introduced HealthVault, which gives users control over who sees what. Among start-ups active in the field are Revolution Health, a company backed by former AOL Chairman Steve Case.

While medical providers are covered by U.S. privacy laws, there is little in the way of established privacy, security and data usage standards for electronic personal health records.

Google is prepared to resist fishing expeditions by lawyers seeking to subpoena personal medical records stored on Google Health. Last year, it went to court to defeat an effort by the U.S. Justice Department to request some Google search records.

Some privacy advocates were quick to criticize the effort. Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, said storing medical records with consumer Web services raises data breach risks. "A breach of security would be catastrophic," Simon said. "It's very, very troublesome."

said by GOLFnSUN :

"Among start-ups active in the field are Revolution Health, a company backed by former AOL Chairman Steve Case."

said by Jeffrey :

That does not make me feel secure.

Since no one can guarantee me that a security breach is impossible, I wouldn't rush to put my medical history online.

That being said, load up your favorite P2P application, and search for "health records" and I'm sure someone has unknowingly shared some health information in their My Documents folder.

said by GOLFnSUN :

And until court cases determine how easy or hard it is to get that info subpoenaed, there are concerns there as well.

said by Jeffrey :

That does not make me feel secure.

Since no one can guarantee me that a security breach is impossible, I wouldn't rush to put my medical history online.

That being said, load up your favorite P2P application, and search for "health records" and I'm sure someone has unknowingly shared some health information in their My Documents folder.