SPD disaster train thunders on. Next stop: UN Human Rights Council

It had unfortunately been hanging in the air for weeks. Now it seems still to come: a private relaunch of the national Electronic Patient Record (EHR). Admittedly under the new name "personal health record" (privacy by semantics), initially mainly "regional" and only with consent per individual patient. However, the underlying infrastructure (Landelijk Schakelpunt, LSP) is still nationally oriented and was unanimously voted down by the Senate earlier this year due to privacy concerns. With that, this private EHR now looks suspiciously like a nuclear transport with the LSP as the radioactive cargo. Anticipating this charted Privacy First e.a. recently (just before the reporting deadline) to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Indeed, by the end of May 2012, the Dutch human rights situation (including national privacy policy) will be there on the agenda. Then the Netherlands will get to publicly explain to the whole world how it has still guaranteed privacy in this same SPD. For example, in the coming months privacy by design by means of technical compartmentalisation, data minimisation, freedom of choice and transparency for the patient. Perhaps the Netherlands will then soon make a good turn in Geneva after all