Google Glass and Health Care: Initial Legal and Ethical Questions

17 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2015 Last revised: 9 May 2015

See all articles by Nicolas Terry

Nicolas Terry

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Chad Priest

Indiana University School of Nursing; Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) - School of Medicine

Paul Szotek

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) - Indiana University School of Medicine

Date Written: April 7, 2015

Abstract

Physicians and some hospitals have exhibited considerable enthusiasm for the implementation of Google Glass in the healthcare environment. However, current uses of Google Glass for data display, recording and transmitting, or data storage raise several challenging ethical and legal questions. Some of the innovative uses of Glass may raise as yet unmeasured risks such as distraction. More concretely, Glass users face informed consent requirements and legal and ethical limits on recording patients even for educational purposes. Most seriously, Glass is not yet HIPAA compliant (although some apps developed for it are). Some uses of Glass will therefore be subject to privacy and security constraints. The authors describe the issues raised by Glass in detail and recommend some initial risk-management strategies.

Note: Copyright 2015 American Health Lawyers Association, posted to SSRN with permission.

Keywords: Enhanced reality, privacy, consent, health information technology

JEL Classification: K10, K32

Suggested Citation

Terry, Nicolas P. and Priest, Chad and Szotek, Paul, Google Glass and Health Care: Initial Legal and Ethical Questions (April 7, 2015). J. Health & Life Sci. L., Feb. 2015 at 93, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-20, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2591365

Nicolas P. Terry (Contact Author)

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law ( email )

530 W. New York St
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

Chad Priest

Indiana University School of Nursing

1111 Middle Drive
Indianpaolis, IN 46202
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nursing.iu.edu

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) - School of Medicine ( email )

Indianapolis, IN
United States

Paul Szotek

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) - Indiana University School of Medicine ( email )

Riley Hospital for Children
705 Riley Hospital Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
United States

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