[LINK] Urgent: MyHR Opt-Out

[Roger Clarke]

The government is imposing a scheme called MyHR (My Health Record).

This record is all-but useless for patient care.  It's purpose is to enable government agencies to get access to people's health care data.

The project failed to attract people to opt-in, i.e. provide consent.

So the government is imposing the scheme on everyone, unless they opt out.

The opt-out window commenced this morning, Mon 16 July.

And the opt-out window closes on 15 October.

After 15 October, the government says that it will create a permanent record for every person who hasn't opted out.

The government has also stated that this record will not be deleted until 30 years after your death, even if you request it be deleted.


Here's the information page provided by the Australian Privacy Foundation:
https://privacy.org.au/campaigns/myhr/

It contains a considerable amount of information that the government has failed to communicate to the public.

APF fully supports appropriate applications of IT, including to health records.  

But it urges every individual to inform themselves about the MyHR scheme, and to make a decision based on whether they see sufficient (or even any) benefits to themselves in return for the considerable risks involved.


How to opt-out of My Health Record
----------------------------------

Go to this website and follow the instructions
https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/for-you-your-family/opt-out-my-health-record

You will need:
-   Your Medicare card or a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) card; and
-   One of the following forms of current Australian identification:
    -   your Driver licence, or
    -   your Passport, or
    -   your ImmiCard

If you don't have these, but still want to stop a My Health Record from being automatically created, you can call the Help line on 1800 723 471.


NOTE BENE:  The morning of 16 July has seen a rush on the help-line, resulting in long waits to get an answer.  Given the inadequate capacity of many government (and sometimes private sector) web-sites, the MyHR web-site may also have trouble coping with the load.


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University