Artificial intelligence health app taking more information than necessary: Report
A health app that allows Albertans to speak to a virtual agent about the symptoms of their potential illnesses is not fully compliant with rules set out to protect the privacy of its clients, a provincial agency has found.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) says it has come up with a list of 31 findings and 20 recommendations following an investigation into TELUS' Babylon Health app.
The mobile program was first launched in B.C. in March 2019 but came to Alberta last year.
Following a review of the app, which was launched in April 2020, the OIPC says it associates government-issued ID and selfie photos with accounts for verification purposes, collected and recorded audio and video consultations conducted through the app and had a number of issues with its privacy policy.
"Many of the findings from the (Personal Information Protection Act) investigation relate to the app’s privacy policy, which was found to be unclear, lengthy and contained inaccuracies," the province said in a release. "For example, the privacy policy did not clearly identify the purposes for which personal information is collected, and it was not clear what information was associated with each purpose. The privacy policy also referred to functionality that was not enabled or available to individuals."
The OIPC said while Babylon informed them the video recording function was disabled in June 2020, the audio recording feature is still available.
It added the issue regarding photos and the recording of consultations are "not consistent with provincial and national guidelines for providing health care."
When the app first launched, Health Minister Tyler Shandro called it timely, especially when COVID-19 rules at the time had Albertans self-isolating whenever they exhibited cold or flu-like symptoms.
"Using this app is an alternative to visiting physicians face-to-face when you're not sure if your symptoms are related to the novel coronavirus or at any other time," he said at the time.
Now, the province said it will be carefully considering the OIPC reports but says TELUS has already implemented some of the recommendations on its own.
Meanwhile, TELUS is standing by its MyCare virtual care service, insisting that it "meets or exceeds all privacy requirements set out in Alberta's legislation" including the concerns outlined in the OIPC report.
"We are constantly enhancing our privacy program and we recently updated our privacy policy, internal data policies, and agreements with our physicians; and we continue to work cooperatively with the OIPC," said Dr. Keir Peterson, Chief Medical Officer, Consumer Health, TELUS, in a statement.
"Protecting our customers' privacy and safeguarding their personal information is paramount and we want to assure users of TELUS Health MyCare that their privacy is and has always been respected."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
B.C. theatre to pay $55K to neurodivergent actor in discrimination case
British Columbia's human rights tribunal has awarded a neurodigergent actor, who was diagnosed with sensory and learning disorders, more than $55,000 after finding that a Kelowna theatre company discriminated against him because of his disabilities.
Who's responsible for regulating cannabis stores operating under the sovereignty banner?
It's not quite clear who is supposed to be regulating so-called sovereign cannabis stores or even ensure they're benefiting Indigenous communities.