Confidentiality

Operating system

Internet privacy

The Internet

Epistemology

Mental health

World Wide Web

Psychiatry

Empirical research

Information privacy

Engineering

Philosophy

Political science

Psychology

Personally identifiable information

Right to privacy

Bioethics

Duty

Public relations

Computer science

Big data

Legislature

Engineering ethics

Journal of Medical Ethics

Confidentiality is a central bioethical principle governing the provider-patient relationship. Dating back to Hippocrates, new laws have interpreted it for the age of precision medicine and electronic medical records. This is where the discussion of privacy and technology often ends in the scientific health literature when Internet-related technologies have made privacy a much more complex challenge with broad psychological and clinical implications. Beyond the recognised moral duty to protect patients' health information, clinicians should now advocate a basic right to privacy as a means to safeguard psychological health. The article reviews empirical research into the functions of privacy, the implications for psychological development and the resigned sentiment taking hold regarding the ability to control personal data. The article concludes with a call for legislative, educational and research steps to readjust the equilibrium between the individual and 'Big Data'.

Protecting privacy to protect mental health: the new ethical imperative