Third-year medical students' knowledge of privacy and security issues concerning mobile devices

Background: The use of mobile devices are ubiquitous in medical-care professional settings, but information on privacy and security concerns of mobile devices for medical students is scarce. Aims: To gain baseline information about third-year medical students' mobile device use and knowledge of privacy and security issues concerning mobile devices. Methods: We surveyed 67 third-year medical students at a Midwestern university on their use of mobile devices and knowledge of how to protect information available through mobile devices. Students were also presented with clinical scenarios to rate their level of concern in regards to privacy and security of information. Results: The most used features of mobile devices were: voice-to-voice (100%), text messaging (SMS) (94%), Internet (76.9%), and email (69.3%). For locking of one's personal mobile phone, 54.1% never physically lock their phone, and 58% never electronically lock their personal PDA. Scenarios considering definitely privacy concerns include emailing patient information intact (66.7%), and posting de-identified information on YouTube (45.2%) or Facebook (42.2%). Conclusions: As the ease of sharing data increases with the use of mobile devices, students need more education and training on possible privacy and security risks posed with mobile devices.