section_path: Privacy protection
section_name: Privacy protection
paragraph_text: Privacy protection
  
  Medical imaging are generally covered by laws of medical privacy. For example, in the United States the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets restrictions for health care providers on utilizing protected health information, which is any individually identifiable information relating to the past, present, or future physical or mental health of any individual. While there has not been any definitive legal decision in the matter, at least one study has indicated that medical imaging may contain biometric information that can uniquely identify a person, and so may qualify as PHI.
  
  The UK General Medical Council's ethical guidelines indicate that the Council does not require consent prior to secondary uses of X-ray images.