Fitness Trackers & Genetic Testing: Why Your Health Information Isn’t So Private

Your weight. Your sleep quality. Your heart rate. You may not perceive these personal details as important on their own; however, when aggregated and viewed in the right context these details may disclose a significant amount of information. More and more businesses are collecting health information that may ultimately be accessed with or without your consent by third parties.

Join us for the opportunity to hear from a panel of healthcare and privacy experts about the rise of fitness trackers and genetic testing, why healthcare information is coveted by hackers and what the risk is in having your personal health information fall into the wrong hands.

This event will take place in ECHA 2-420.

***This workshop is restricted to UAlberta employees and students.***

Panelists:

Gordie Mah is the UofA’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). As CISO, he provides senior leadership at the University towards safeguarding/protecting the University’s information and IT assets. Accordingly, Gordie develops/implements security governance, policies, analysis, and risk/incident management.

Kevin Friese is the Assistant Dean of Students, Health and Wellness at the U of A. He is also the information privacy officer for Health and Wellness Services, comprised of services that fall both under the Health Information and Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Acts. His career has focused on a diverse set of commitments relating to students and student affairs taking him from student recruitment to student services and student health and wellness. With over eighteen years of experience in the field of health and wellness, Kevin has spearheaded over a dozen privacy impact assessments and collaborated with the U of A’s Information Privacy Office in the creation and curation of HIA and FOIPP compliant information privacy policies that guide health and wellness services at the U of A.

Diane Alguire is the Director of the Information & Privacy Office.

Lawrence Richer MD, MSc is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Associate Dean Clinical Research and Director of the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Center (NACTRC). He also serves as the Associate Director of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI), provincial co-lead for the Pragmatic Clinical Trials platform within the Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU), and interim Divisional Director for Pediatric Neurology. He is a Pediatric Neurologist with clinical and research interests in the treatment of headache and disorders of the autonomic nervous system. As Associate Dean, Clinical Research and Director of NACTRC he has a broad commitment to maximizing the use of health data to improve patient outcomes through research, to optimizing research administration processes, and to enhancing support for innovation in clinical trials. As Associate Director at WCHRI, he is leading the development of a clinical trials unit and data coordinating center for KidsCAN Trials – a national pediatric clinical trials network.

Full panel bios coming soon!