It is more difficult to maintain your privacy if you use the internet, even for something seemingly as benign as email or Google.
Google is more ubiquitous than the yellow pages and is far more accessible.There are many analytics engines sweeping Google, twitter, Facebook and other social media for statistics and trends in internet use ranging from your network size, who influences you,who you influence, your areas of expertise and other unmentionables. Klout is one site that you can access to have some idea of what analytics is capable of assessing about your internet usage. Most of these programs are free with limited functionality but for a price a much more invasive biopsy of your presence is available.
Caseblogs, Medical and Dental Health Blog has a check list for you to accomplish at least three or four times a year.
Here is his recipe for minimizing damage to your online self
Connectivity
Real WIMAX, (not 4G that delivers speed but not distance) may deliver on broadband health IT in remote and rural areas of the United States.
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is in the process of releasing “white space”, the television analog frequencies abandoned by the fiat of the FCC several years ago. The white space will be used for ‘Wi-Max” a wide area VHF wireless technology that has the potential for a 60 mile radius with one or several broadcast points. While the power limitations are very low and the speeds are low, it will enable much better coverage in rural areas at much lower cost. The adapters are simple and quite inexpensive, the first rendition that has been approved is from Koo Technologies.(KTS) I believe this will enable rural providers and hospitals to tie into the NHIN easily. The first test markets are in Delaware and Washington, D.C., and rural Virginia. Spectrum Bridge is an early provider for the technology.The technology requires a database search for unused spectrum so that it does not interfere with other users in that portion of the radio spectrum. More details here (download).
The innovation will have a great effect on healthcare, as much as scientific advances in medicine. Connectivity has been rated in the top 10 of the best advances in medicine by USA News.