Reading new information this morning on health issues and I ran across an item that caught my eye. A new service called Google Health. It was new to me. I did not know that Google had gone into the health business. My question was: What is Google Health? Is Google Health a new humanitarian effort by Google or just another way to make more money? I needed to get more information on this new service.

So I Googled, Google Health. In seconds there it was on my computer screen. Big as life! Googling is great and very fast.

When Google Health came up, it required me to log into my Google Account before it would give me any information. Makes Sense!

First thing to do. Read the Google Health Terms of Service. It looks just like a legal agreement. Come to think of it, it is a legal agreement with 13 different sections.

Oh, there’s all the regular stuff like: Agreement, Not Medical Advice ( US Use Only), Account Use and then how they intend to Use Your Information. You will want to go over this section and the section on Content and Services Accessed through Google Health very thoroughly to make sure you agree to agree with Google.

Google wants you to indemnify and defend them against any third-party Google Health feature providers, if a problems comes up.

Go over the agreement in detail with someone who understands legalese. This is very important.

You also have to give Google an Authorization to authorize them to share your information in its entirety. This information may include the following: HIV or AIDS, Mental illness or any mental health condition, Alcohol or substance abuse, Sexually transmitted diseases, Pregnancy, Abortion or other family planning, Genetic tests or genetic diseases. Wow! That’s a lot of private info.

Medical databases are used daily by our doctors and insurance companies. This helps them provide better medical care for ourselves and families … but do you really want all of your medical information floating around on the web? Do you feel good about placing it in Google’s hands.

I know for myself, I will not be using Google Health anytime soon.

Will you use this new service? Is it something you would like to use in the future.