ABSTRACT
The correlation between health equity and health data protection in the area of telemedicine has been put into relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the right to health data protection is not only a personal right but also a human right. Health equity cannot be maintained without an adequately functioning system of health data protection in telemedicine, yet, in many countries, health equity re-mains a mere dream. The United States and the European Union are the flagships of both health equity and health data protection, with HIPAA (in the US) and the GDPR (in the EU);however, some gaps do exist, as demonstrated by the practice of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. While US and EU regulations on tele -medicine do provide legal certainty, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new legal climate, with new priorities superseding health data protection, which had been paramount beforehand.
ABSTRACT
The article traces the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and implication in the Europe. In the era of global digitalisation, the right to respect private life, communication and the home has become a matter of protection. Protecting the right to privacy is a responsibility of a state which includes privacy of personal information, e.g. birth, messages, phone call and number and emails. Likewise, this study explains EU concern’s about its citizens’ privacy and the recent inclusion of the GDPR for the protection of natural persons. The article aims to explore individual fundamental rights and implications in the digital age, as well as cooperation data rules between companies and public bodies. At the same time, questions arise about the rightful implication of GDPR and the right to privacy of the public through protection, especially from tech companies. For validating the argument, various qualitative research methods were applied. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a serious question over privacy rights protection by the government, which supports our findings that EU GDPR has a long road to go and have challenges. Its credibility of lawful data activities is also a matter of concern and a reliable promise by the member states and the EU. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Contemporary European Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 is continuing to ravage the globe. In many Western Countries, the populous has not embraced public health advice which has resulted in a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. In the United States, there is an absence of a coordinated Federal response. Instead, frontline workers and average citizens are having to cope with extensive mixed messaging regarding mask usage and social distancing from the highest levels of government. This has resulted in the United States not being able to achieve a low level of infection since the pandemic began. In addition, many citizens hold a profound belief that individual freedoms must be preserved, even at the expense of public health; and view the wearing of masks as renouncing this right. These engrained political beliefs can be traced back to the late 1800s. The response of the United States has also been hampered by a highly cost-efficient healthcare system, which does not provide universal care and has a just-in-time supply chain, with far too few supplies in reserve. This efficiency prevented a rapid scaling up of the healthcare response, which resulted in severe deficiencies in available personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare staff. To compound issues many healthcare staff are not provided an economic or healthcare safety net. Other frontline workers, such as those who work in transportation and food services, are working under even greater adversities. Many of these workers are from diverse backgrounds, who, along with their families, are at even greater risk for COVID-19. This vulnerable population of frontline workers are faced with a choice of going to work with inadequate PPE or placing food on their families' table. In the United States, official recommendations seem to be ever changing, based more upon supply and test availability, than on science. We must rely on science and learn from the lessons of past pandemics or we will relive, even to a greater degree, the deaths and devastations experienced by our ancestors over 100 years ago.