Privacy-Preserving Telemonitoring for eHealth

Advances in communication technology have opened a myriad of new possibilities for the remote delivery of healthcare. This new form of service delivery, not only contributes to the democratization of healthcare, by reaching far-away populations, but also makes it possible for elderly and chronically-ill patients to have their health monitored while in the comfort of their homes. Despite all of these advantages, however, patients are still resisting the idea of medical telemonitoring. One of the main obstacles facing the adoption of medical telemonitoring, is the concern among patients that their privacy may not be properly protected. We address this concern, and propose a privacy-preserving telemonitoring protocol for healthcare. Our protocol allows patients to selectively disclose their identity information, and guarantees that no health data is sent to the monitoring centre without the patients’ prior approval. The approval process can be automated, and requires only an initial configuration by the patient.