FTC Urged To Investigate E-Mail Disclosure Of Patient List

The FTC was urged to investigate drug manufacturer, Eli Lilly for disclosing

over 700 patients names in an e-mail recently. Eli Lilly provided a daily

e-mail service that reminded Prozac users to take their anti-depressant

medication. These messages were sent without identifying the recipients.

However, when Eli Lilly decided to discontinue the service, it sent an

e-mail to its customers that included a long, publicly visible list of over

700 recipients under the previously blank "To:" header.

In its letter to the FTC, the ACLU charged that Eli Lilly's distribution of

the e-mail violated the company's posted privacy policy and constituted an

unfair trade practice in violation of Federal laws. The ACLU is calling on

the FTC to launch a full investigation into this case. This comes at a time

when a recent survey suggests that more people believe that the government

should have some involvement in regulating the Internet (See,

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/10/technology/10MARK.html for more

information on the survey).

"As if it needed to be emphasized, protecting personal privacy is perhaps

the single greatest challenge facing certain companies" stated Chad King of

...

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