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  #1  
Old September 14th, 2010, 11:27 AM
sk8rgrl23 sk8rgrl23 is offline
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Default confidentiality with cell phones

I'm just starting out in a practice, and have a total of 0 clients at this point and as I'm basically living off savings, funds are extremely limited and a land phone is out of my budget right now. I am currently using a cell phone as my contact, and for clients this will be for purposes of getting a general sense of the issue and arranging an appointment. Obviously using the cell phone in privacy goes without saying, but does using a cell phone in this way jeopardize confidentiality? What safeguards should I be taking?
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Old September 18th, 2010, 07:16 AM
Da Friendly Puter Tech Da Friendly Puter Tech is offline
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Default Re: confidentiality with cell phones

There is a quick answer to this - there is no confidentiality with cell phones, any more than there is confidentiality with email. Both are scarily simple to break in to. I know this, and I always assume that there really are no-one who has an interest in listening in to my conversations. What would they be looking for?

How many conversations, and hours of conversations would they have to break in to, to hear something interesting?

However, it is simple to do, so there is a risk. I have no clue how insurance companies would view the risk as far as having private conversations with clients. I know that confidential medical information cannot be sent over the email grid without being encrypted with 256 bit encryption.

Da Friendly Puter Tech
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Old September 27th, 2010, 08:48 AM
William Reid William Reid is offline
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Default Re: confidentiality with cell phones

Good comments, Friendly, and I appreciate folks coming up with some interesting new topics this month!

I wonder if there is some good information available from professional associations about this, perhaps with security data to back it up. After all, land lines can be easily tapped as well, and first-class mail can be opened by the wrong person. And even if the clinician uses a land line, patients/clients themselves are very likely to use their own cell phones when they call.

Can anyone provide some reliable information about either cell phone security or accepted professional practices?
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