• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, February 21, 2008

Google today unveiled a pilot program that enables people to store and share information about their medical conditions online.

The initiative, available to up to 10,000 patients of the Cleveland Clinic, will let them post information about illnesses, prescriptions, allergies, and the like, to a password-protected online account.

The company says the system will make it easier for everyone because it will free patients from repeatedly filling out forms with the same information, and from having to remember all of the details of their medical histories.

The venture additionally is seen as a way for Google to enter the online health care field, which has captured the attention of former AOL head Steve Case, among others. Case is now involved with the company Revolution Health Group LLC, which also lets people store their medical records online.

At the same time, because medical data is among the most sensitive information out there, programs such as Google's alarm privacy advocates. Yesterday, the World Privacy Forum issued a report criticizing such programs for posing privacy risks. "The existence of electronically available and centralized health information outside the traditional health care system will attract new users and create new risks," the report states.

For instance, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, places strict limits on the release of patient information by doctors and hospitals, but doesn't necessarily protect information people have placed online with companies like Google. The report also warns that companies that offer online file cabinets could attempt to monetize them with ads -- a prospect that is certain to unsettle privacy advocates as well as consumers with sensitive conditions.