How is my personal health information protected?
Your health information is protected by multiple overlapping legal frameworks: HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the Common Rule for federally funded research, state privacy laws, and the IRB-reviewed protocol itself. At the research site, your identifiable data is stored separately from study data and accessed only by authorized personnel. When data is shared with the sponsor or published in journals, it is de-identified — your name, date of birth, address, and other identifiers are stripped or coded. The consent form spells out exactly what data is collected, who can see it, and how long it's retained. At QualifiedStudies, your information is protected under our Privacy Policy and Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy: all data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is logged and audited, and we share your information with research sites, sponsors, and recruitment partners only with your permission. You can request access to your study record, correction of errors, or deletion (subject to regulatory retention rules) at any time.