Ask HN: Would you sell your health data for cash?
Health data is valuable, but it's controlled by a few institutions, making access difficult for research and industry. What if users could take control, share their data voluntarily, and get paid?
The idea:
- Sign up, authorize the platform to collect your health records (from hospitals, etc.), and get $50 upfront. - Your data is gathered, processed, and displayed transparently. - You choose which companies (e.g., pharma, public research, etc.) can access it and get paid per release.
Would you do it? Why or why not?
Would you sell your health data for cash?
No. I don't even want medical facilities to have it. After I leave they need to wipe it off their systems. As for money being involved all the labs already get hacked on a regular basis and its available on the dark web. These places are run by idiots. The last lab I dealt with LabCorp had me a patient helping their customers input their sensitive data into kiosks. I'm honestly surprised they did not have me help them draw blood.
What I want is real time proof they have wiped all my data before I leave for the day. If anything my data should be given to me in paper form and all digital records DoD wiped. I will not even get started on Kaiser. That would turn into a book.
I would not do it for $50 because it’s worth way more than that.
I’d also not do it because it’s just another dataset about my life that can be exploited to my detriment on a personal level.
However, I think there’s an ethical dilemma if you begin to sell health data. For example, the type of people who are going to be willing to sell their health data are probably going to be poor people who are desperate for money. They’re probably not going to be thinking about the wider implications of selling that data. Rather they will driven by trying to solve the immediate need in their life (the need for more money).
So monetising health data makes vulnerable people more vulnerable to exploitation as well. Corporations that would want access to health information are probably not as altruistic as you’d like to pretend. They are businesses who will look for opportunities to make money. The easiest people to exploit for the purposes of boosting profits are poor and low-middle class people. The same people who would sell their healthcare data in a moment if it solve an immediate need today.
Additionally, I think it puts people at risk of having their privacy breached with their sensitive information at a high risk. Say for example, you were a woman that had accidentally become pregnant at some stage and didn’t want the baby, so secretly had an abortion without your partners knowledge… if you sell your health data, in some cases you’re selling all your deepest darkest secrets.