Google health website raises privacy fears

PAGING Dr Google! The search giant has entered the medical arena with Google Health, a website which helps users find doctors and medical information. What's more, if any of your healthcare providers have signed up to the service, Google Health allows you to import your medical records from them and share the data with other doctors.

But Bob Gellman, a privacy consultant in Washington DC, warns that if you use Gmail and Google's search engine, and now entrust Google with your medical data, the company may have "more information about you than any other source". Google Health, which is so far open to US residents only, and rivals such as Microsoft's HealthVault are not covered by US privacy regulations concerning health records, although they do promise to protect personal data.