코로나 팬데믹 사태에서 의료 빅데이터 수집과 활용에 따른 법적 문제

Abstract

Scientific technology is developing day by day, and people try to predict in what way and how it will change in the future, but it’s not always predictable. With the development of technology, life will become not only affluent but also convenient. Yet, on the other hand, diverse problems will be exposed, too. In particular, the invasion of personal privacy was, is and will be still the problem to solve. For the collection, management and analysis of personal medical information, clear prior consent by the owner of the information is necessary. In addition, for the use of this, an extensive range of personal medical information needs to be accumulated as big data, and only when this information can be shared among medical organizations, we can say medical big data has been established. This establishment of personal medical information itno big data has the possibility of coming into conflict with the position of protecting personal medical information. The ‘use’ of personal medical information is mostly for the purpose of research, through which, there can be the positive effect of helping establish a new protection system of our society. Yet, in spite of the positive aspect, the danger of damage because of the leakage of sensitive information always coexits in personal medical information. To set legal limit to prevent this danger is based on 「the Personal Information Protection Act」. However, it can’t cover all the areas of the special field of medical information. Accordingly, different laws including 「Medical Law」 and 「Framework Act on Health and Medical Services」 regulate it. Different from Korea, the United States, Canada and France have the system to manage medical information with unified law. Our society will collect more medical information in the future than in the present, accumulate it as big data, and use it in different industrial sites. In this process, a vaiety of problems will necessarily occur, such as the violation of the right to informational self-determination, the ownership of personal medical information, and information keeping and discard in the use of the collected and analyzed personal medical information. In case of strong regulation to get rid of danger, the proper use of the collected medical information becomes limited. It’s appropriate from the aspect of protection of personal information, but it can bring about undesirable results from the aspect of the guarantee of the social security or health care welfare of all citizens. Therefore, the way to manage it properly needs to be found, and even though it is possible as a policy model, the direction should be toward the establishment of the legal foundation.