How do I compellingly advocate for my privacy with doctors and other healthcare professionals?

Bumbashirovich:

It’s better to keep quiet in such situations. You might be misunderstood and referred to a psychiatrist.

fenasiabi:

This is 100% true.

Expert4870:

@PurpleDime BTW, @jordan and @nateb discussed your thread https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?t=5724&v=6pQl-hsAKa4

PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION

Thank you! I just watched the stream. @jordan and @nateb made some valid points. At this early stage, staying quiet is not an option for me. I am going to speak up. But like @jordan said, I must be tactful. I do not want to come across as a crazy conspiracy theorist like @Bumbashirovich is suggesting.

I also 100% agree with @nateb when he says that taking care of your health should take precedence over your privacy concerns, especially if you do not have many options in healthcare providers.

THE ISSUE IS SYSTEMIC

I want to reiterate that I am dealing with a single practice, where there are essentially two people working. My doctor and her receptionist. My doctor’s practice is in a clinic where there are many practitioners who don’t use Gmail. This means that the choice to use Gmail and WhatsApp is entirely hers. It’s not imposed on her by the clinic.

With that being said, @nateb is right to point out that the issue is systemic because it has become very common for businesses and medical practices to use WhatsApp and Gmail.

I appreciate you sharing your experience with doctors who use Signal but are not allowed to use it for work because other people need to be able to access chats. This is probably why Signal, like WhatsApp, is not considered HIPAA compliant, despite being more private.

FIRST STEP: INQUIRY VIA DPA & LAWYERS

My current first step will be to contact my local data protection agency and ask them about the use of WhatsApp and Gmail in healthcare. I am also going to contact law firms that specialize in privacy to ask them the same thing. I don’t intend to be a client. I can’t afford it, but I hope some are willing to respond.

I’ve mentioned before that I have yet to find a law firm specialized in privacy issues that caters to regular people rather than corporations and organizations. Most of these law firms advertise their services as helping organizations be compliant with privacy laws.

That’s all fine and dandy, but we must never forget that the interests of your bank, which holds your data and arguably wants to protect it, are not the same as your interests, even though some of your concerns align.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have weeks to prepare. My goal is to voice my concerns calmly and in the most respectful way possible. I hope I am successful.