Privacy and security in the era of digital health: what should translational researchers know and do about it?

The rapid growth in the availability and incorporation of digital technologies in almost every aspect of our lives creates extraordinary opportunities but brings with it unique challenges. This is especially true for the translational researcher, whose work has been markedly enhanced through the capabilities of big data aggregation and analytics, wireless sensors, online study enrollment, mobile engagement, and much more. At the same time each of these tools brings distinctive security and privacy issues that most translational researchers are inadequately prepared to deal with despite accepting overall responsibility for them. For the researcher, the solution for addressing these challenges is both simple and complex. Cyber-situational awareness is no longer a luxury-it is fundamental in combating both the elite and highly organized adversaries on the Internet as well as taking proactive steps to avoid a careless turn down the wrong digital dark alley. The researcher, now responsible for elements that may/may not be beyond his or her direct control, needs an additional level of cyber literacy to understand the responsibilities imposed on them as data owner. Responsibility lies with knowing what you can do about the things you can control and those you can't. The objective of this paper is to describe the data privacy and security concerns that translational researchers need to be aware of, and discuss the tools and techniques available to them to help minimize that risk.