Patient photographs on Google Images: a commentary on informed consent, copyright, and privacy laws

Abstract

Patient photographs published in medical journals have been found on Google Images in two studies, raising concerns about informed consent and patient privacy. It is unlikely that patient informed consent includes consideration of these circumstances, as there are no uniform guidelines for obtaining consent for the publishing of clinical photographs across online medical journals. Health data privacy legislation in the EU, US, and Canada is only concerned with identifiable patient photographs, and their guidelines for deidentification are inconsistent. Patients have limited legal recourse in such cases, as the liability of search engines, publishers, and clinicians is unclear under law. Better informed consent and publication practices, as well as ethical dissemination of sensitive information online by tech companies, are necessary to address these issues.