With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I need to let people know how dangerous the healthcare privacy climate is now. As someone that works with PHI (protected health information) I want to stress that HIPAA (the law that prevents your health data from being shared) does not apply to healthcare apps. These are incredibly dangerous to use, not only because law enforcement can procure a subpoena to access this information, but because these apps can sell your health data to any third party—potentially anti-abortion activists. Anyone with a uterus should delete not only period trackers, but mental health apps, because if you have a miscarriage or seek an abortion in a state that outlaws it, your mental health history can be used against you.
I would also discourage people from using online therapy apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace. Though BetterHelp says they are HIPAA compliant, that is a lie. They have shared data with Facebook. Their most recent privacy policy update says “We may share your information in connection with an asset sale, merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction.” Any data breach could put your information at risk. Any health app could suddenly decide to change their privacy policies without notice.
Most responsible clinicians put your health data under (many times literally) lock and key. PHI software like Epic or Cerner have numerous failsafes to prevent data leaks. This is not the case for apps. BetterHelp and healthcare apps in general do not care about this. They only care about money. Do not trust any app or healthcare provider that operates strictly online. And for your own sake, use a VPN if you’re searching for abortion providers or advice.
“Dragon,” poem assembled using quotations from Wikipedia articles
malice / madness
can’t stop thinking about zag being subtly influenced by the boons he picks up… 👁
Your annual reminder to not donate to Salvation Army!
There's an open pit in the middle of our office plan that drops down into a bunch of very sharp spikes that kill you instantly. This is bad. People keep falling in there and dying. Someone put a sign up, the other day, all bright yellow so you can't miss it, that says "Beware!!! Spikes!!!"
The office immediately split into two factions over it. One says that if anyone falls in the spike pit it's their own fault for being so stupid and not watching where they're walking, so we should remove the sign. The other says that the sign is an insult, there shouldn't be a spike pit in our office at all, and having the sign up like that is just normalising the existence of the spike pit, so we should remove the sign.
We ended up removing the sign. Probably for the better. Still... for a while there it looked like it might have worked...
tell me im wrong, you wont. Luffy having stunt growth and several other underlining problems outside of the 10 years off the life thing.
ghost reunion a bit too early
“redemption arcs only work if the person isn’t a villain!”