Majority (55.5 percent) were equally worried about the privacy of medical records, DNA data, and facial images collected for precision health research


Date:
October 14, 2021
Source:
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Summary:
Uses of facial images and facial recognition technologies -- to
unlock a phone or in airport security -- are becoming increasingly
common in everyday life. But how do people feel about using such
data in healthcare and biomedical research?


FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Uses of facial images and facial recognition technologies -- to unlock
a phone or in airport security -- are becoming increasingly common in
everyday life.

But how do people feel about using such data in healthcare and biomedical research?

========================================================================== Through surveying over 4,000 US adults, researchers found that a
significant proportion of respondents considered the use of facial
image data in healthcare across eight varying scenarios as unacceptable
(15-25 percent). Taken with those that responded as unsure of whether the
uses were acceptable, roughly 30- 50 percent of respondents indicated
some degree of concern for uses of facial recognition technologies in healthcare scenarios. Whereas using facial image data in some cases --
such as to avoid medical errors, for diagnosis and screening, or for
security -- was acceptable to the majority, more than half of respondents
did not accept or were uncertain about healthcare providers using this
data to monitor patients' emotions or symptoms, or for health research.

In the biomedical research setting, most respondents were equally worried
about the use of medical records, DNA data and facial image data in
a study.

While respondents were a diverse group in terms of age, geographic region, gender, racial and ethnic background, educational attainment, household
income, and political views, their perspectives on these issues did not
differ by demographics. Findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Our results show that a large segment of the public perceives a potential privacy threat when it comes to using facial image data in healthcare,"
said lead author Sara Katsanis, who heads the Genetics and Justice
Laboratory at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and is
a Research Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"To ensure public trust, we need to consider greater protections for
personal information in healthcare settings, whether it relates to
medical records, DNA data, or facial images. As facial recognition
technologies become more common, we need to be prepared to explain how
patient and participant data will be kept confidential and secure."
Senior author Jennifer K. Wagner, Assistant Professor of Law, Policy and Engineering in Penn State's School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs adds: "Our study offers an important opportunity for those pursuing possible use of facial analytics in healthcare settings
and biomedical research to think about human-centeredness in a more
meaningful way.

The research that we are doing hopefully will help decisionmakers find
ways to facilitate biomedical innovation in a thoughtful, responsible way
that does not undermine public trust." The research team, which includes co-authors with expertise in bioethics, law, genomics, facial analytics,
and bioinformatics, hopes to conduct further research to understand the
nuances where public trust is lacking.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ann_&_Robert_H._Lurie_Children's_Hospital_of_Chicago.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sara H. Katsanis, Peter Claes, Megan Doerr, Robert Cook-Deegan,
Jessica
D. Tenenbaum, Barbara J. Evans, Myoung Keun Lee, Joel Anderton,
Seth M.

Weinberg, Jennifer K. Wagner. A survey of U.S. public perspectives
on facial recognition technology and facial imaging data practices
in health and research contexts. PLOS ONE, 2021; 16 (10): e0257923
DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0257923 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211014141836.htm

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