Las buenas prácticas para el tratamiento del dato de salud

Abstract

The Organic Law for the Protection of Personal Data came into effect on May 26, 2021, and brought with it a series of rights, obligations and a new approach to how we should treat personal data in Ecuador. This regulation includes a definition of which data should be considered as sensitive data, one of them being health data.

Historically, health data has always been treated with due confidentiality and the professional secrecy of the patient's treating physicians; however, the recent regulation has brought with it a special categorization of such data, which implies treating and preserving it with much more diligence and care.

This article will briefly explain the health data, the reason for its sensitivity, which data are linked as health data and what is the proper treatment that should be given to this type of data. The purpose of this is to inform all readers about what health data encompasses and how it should be treated properly. Also, some good practices for the treatment of this data considered as sensitive will be explained, which above all seek to protect the privacy of the owner of the data.