Privacy, Technology and Telehealth: Canadian Older Adults Voice Their Concerns.

This exploratory study examines older adults’ perceptions of privacy within the Canadian healthcare system, a system that is increasingly reliant on digital flows of information and mediated communication. We present the results from in-depth interviews with ten older adults (aged 65–88) conducted in Canada between December 2022 and January 2023. These interviews are centered on how telehealth and the rapid digitization of healthcare have influenced their understandings of privacy. Although asked about privacy concerns in relation to telehealth, our findings indicate that these respondents conceive of privacy primarily outside of the digital realm. Privacy was initially discussed in personal terms. Participants conceived of privacy as relations of trust and intimacy with a small number of medical professionals. When they discussed risk in the context of telehealth, participants expressed concern in sharing specific information, such as credit card numbers, over digital networks. In follow-up interviews with three participants, where instances of the sharing of healthcare information were brought to their attention, attitudes shifted, and privacy was then discussed in relation to information flows. Drawing on Nissenbaum’s approach to privacy as contextual integrity, we suggest that our older participants as “data subjects” have an understanding of privacy that is underpinned by expectations of integrity of the current healthcare system. Our findings also point to the need for more public discussion and debate on the sharing of healthcare information in Canada.