Let’s say you have a implantable defibrillator in your chest. It’s collecting data from your body all the time. Do you own that information, since it came from you? Could you even see it? Medtronic Inc. says the answer is no, and no. That’s the pretty compelling takeaway from a Wall Street Journal article on how data-collecting medical technologies such as implants — and even smartphone apps — are confounding existing U.S. patient-privacy laws. The report leads with one patient who received a Medtronic implant but has since lost her insurance, so she doesn’t see her doctor much anymore.
