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A comment on DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance. Parent comment

Re:DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance by n0nc3 on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @11:06AM (#25138367)
No idea.

All I know is that there are at least three hedge funds with the ability to acquire individualized prescription histories. I don't know if they are able to "deanonymize" guids in a large database, or if they query based on the individual.

Congress should start asking questions.

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Re:DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance by cj on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @12:49PM (#25139851)
Which hedge funds?
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Re:DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance by n0nc3 on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @01:13PM (#25140191)
Naming them won't add any credibility to my claim.

There are many companies that offer the data for sale. The example I link seems to require HIPAA authorization from the individual, but the authorization is not actually required by law. It also raises the question how the vendor is able to acquire the data without HIPAA authorization.

The data is advertised as "real time".

For what it's worth, my money is on "deanonymizing" guids. Hedge funds want to track sales in real time to have an edge in earnings forecasts.

https://www.rxhistories.com/irix/prescription-data/

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Re:DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance by cj on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @01:17PM (#25140260)
Thanks for the follow up. I wasn’t doubting your claim, just genuinely interested in how one goes about obtaining such information in a legal way.

(Or whether what they’re doing is borderline legal to begin with)

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Re:DEA Pursues Vast Expansion of Patient Surveillance by mhuffman on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @02:55PM (#25141636)
> Naming them won't add any credibility to my claim.

Yes it will! Because then other people can confirm your claims.

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