Wearable devices are increasingly common, tracking various physical activities and even finding their way into legal evidence. The future of medicine may lie in this quantified personal measurement, allowing for customized treatment tailored to individual patients. However, to reach this future, changes to regulatory frameworks and a rethinking of privacy notions are needed to allow for more patient-centric medical treatment and algorithmic diagnosis.
India has the potential to use data innovatively for enhancing healthcare outcomes. However, it’s crucial to balance patient privacy with public good, defining clear grounds for data access and stringent punishments for misuse. The draft EHR legislation suggests patients “own” their medical data, but a nuanced approach focusing on access and control is needed. India has a unique opportunity to leverage technology for healthcare, but must strike the right balance between personal privacy and public good.
The consent-based model of data protection is outdated and ineffective in the modern, interconnected world. We need to shift from focusing on obtaining consent to holding organizations accountable for the data they control. India, lacking a formal privacy law, has a unique opportunity to develop a modern privacy law centered on accountability, which could serve as a model for the rest of the world.
While it is not without its flaws, a closer examination of the provisions of the Aadhaar Act will make it clear that it imposes on the government, some of the strongest fetters on executive over-reach of any legislation in the country.
