by
Thomas Dworetzky, Contributing Reporter | April 10, 2018
The approach would have hidden data that could identify and individual, such as names. But patient consent was not discussed during initial talks, according to the news agency.
Facebook responded in a lengthy statement about the current state of the project by defending it and also acknowledging that it was paused at this point.
It noted that the plan was to research social links in order “to help medical professionals develop specific treatment and intervention plans that take social connection into account.”
It acknowledged that it had discussions but stressed that "this work has not progressed past the planning phase, and we have not received, shared, or analyzed anyone's data."
Additionally, it stated that it was pausing further discussions, "so we can focus on other important work, including doing a better job of protecting people's data and being clearer with them about how that data is used in our products and services."
Perhaps a harbinger of this project, in late 2015, a study found that more than half of over 5,000 patients approached were on Facebook or Twitter, and as many as 71 percent of these social media users
were comfortable with doctors accessing their accounts to compare with their health records.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania described in the journal
BMJ Quality & Safety how they used the data to build a language databank that may let social media content connect to health outcomes.
"We don't often think of our social media content as data, but the language we use and the information we post may offer valuable insights into the relationship between our everyday lives and our health," Dr. Raina M. Merchant, senior author, director of the Social Media and Health Innovation Lab and an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Penn Medicine, noted at the time.
"There is a rich potential to identify health trends both in the general public and at the individual level, create education campaigns and interventions, and much more. One of the unique aspects of this data is the ability to link social media data with validated information from a health record," she said.
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