This video is part 2 of a 14-part WPF video series on health privacy and health information exchanges. Doctors have been using fax machines to send and exchange patient records for years. We know that an HIE allows medical records to be shared electronically between health care providers. But how does an HIE differ — really — from faxes? What changes, beyond the obvious?

WPF Video Series: Health Information Exchanges and Your Privacy, video 1. HIE stands for “Health Information Exchange.” An HIE allows medical records to be shared electronically between health care providers. Watch video ….

WPF’s happenings and news update for August 8, 2014 ….

The World Privacy Forum filed comments with the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to its Request for Comments about big data, privacy, and the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. The White House Big Data report recognized that Big Data “raises considerable questions about how our framework for privacy protection applies in a big data ecosystem” and has the potential to “eclipse longstanding civil rights protections in how personal information is used in housing, credit, employment, health, education, and the marketplace.” This is among our concerns as well, and our comments focused on understanding big data’s benefits while drawing attention to where there are significant privacy risks that need to be addressed.

Here is an update on some of the stories in privacy over the past few months. For a complete list, see our full World Privacy Forum in the news page.