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Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, LLD (Hon), James G. Hodge, Jr, JD, LLM and Ronald O. Valdiserri, MD, MPH

Lawrence O. Gostin is with Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, and the Center for Law and the Public's Health, Baltimore, Md, and Washington, DC. James G. Hodge Jr is with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md, and the Center for Law and the Public's Health, Baltimore, Md, and Washington, DC. Ronald O. Valdiserri is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to James G. Hodge Jr, JD, LLM, Center for Law and the Public's Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Room 582, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996 (e-mail: hodgej{at}erols.com).

Protecting public health requires the acquisition, use, and storage of extensive health-related information about individuals. The electronic accumulation and exchange of personal data promises significant public health benefits but also threatens individual privacy; breaches of privacy can lead to individual discrimination in employment, insurance, and government programs. Individuals concerned about privacy invasions may avoid clinical or public health tests, treatments, or research.

Although individual privacy protections are critical, comprehensive federal privacy protections do not adequately protect public health data, and existing state privacy laws are inconsistent and fragmented. The Model State Public Health Privacy Act provides strong privacy safeguards for public health data while preserving the ability of state and local public health departments to act for the common good.

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