News: Privacy suffers at health Web sites
About 65 million Americans have sought health information on the Internet, but many of their online activities are not protected by U.S. medical privacy rules, a report released Monday said.

The Bush administration unveiled the first legal protections for medical information last April. The rules, which take full effect in April 2003, aim to give patients more control over who sees sensitive, personal information.

Consumers should be aware, however, that the rules will not cover most purchases, searches or other actions on thousands of health-related Web sites, the report said.
"Many probably assume that the personal information they provide to health Web sites is covered by the new regulation, and they are wrong," Susannah Fox, research director for the Pew Internet Project, said in a statement.

That means the sites can collect information and are not required by law to keep it confidential, the report said.
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