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Ask HN: Are there tools out there to video chat with anonymity

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Re: Ask HN: Are there tools out there to video chat with anonymity

#11

Even with stigma I would suggest getting a recommended therapist with help of your doctor. The results will be better with open cards and I would recommend a medical professional as auditor of therapy and therapists. There probably won't be a technical solution for problems like patient dependence and bad therapists.

Thanks for the response. Agreed that it's better the normal way but even a simple consultation requires submitting a phone number to a mediator service. Most of folks are reluctant to submit their phone numbers to a database (which might get hacked given the state of security policies, not to speak of other predatory practices of selling personal data to ad services). Like I said in my post, there is no regulation that protects health data from being sold to 3rd parties and even if there is one, it is not enforced. Unfortunately, data security is currently the responsibility of the patient instead of being the other way around and this adds a huge barrier for the technologically non-savvy.

Re: Ask HN: Are there tools out there to video chat with anonymity

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> facial anonymity. Turn camera off, point it at your shadow or use some censoring/blurring software to cover your face?

These are great suggestions. I think there should be a software solution that blurs faces on the webcam feed to create a different virtual feed that can be fed into a browser based video chat tool. Along the same lines, wearing a mask also protects identity. The only problem is that this is an additional step for someone who is already reluctant to talk to a professional.

> I think there should be a software solution that blurs faces on the webcam

Avatarify looks pretty neat too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7LFDT-FRzs

Github: https://github.com/alievk/avatarify-python

Re: Ask HN: Are there tools out there to video chat with anonymity

#13

Even with stigma I would suggest getting a recommended therapist with help of your doctor. The results will be better with open cards and I would recommend a medical professional as auditor of therapy and therapists. There probably won't be a technical solution for problems like patient dependence and bad therapists.

Thanks for the response. Agreed that it's better the normal way but even a simple consultation requires submitting a phone number to a mediator service. Most of folks are reluctant to submit their phone numbers to a database (which might get hacked given the state of security policies, not to speak of other predatory practices of selling personal data to ad services). Like I said in my post, there is no regulation th…

Worse that data sharing seems to be a trend even in countries where such data was previously protected. But I think medical professionals are very aware about the importance of confidentiality and maybe speaking directly about that with your doctor might compel him to hide the reasons for your visit. So it remains the best approach to get the best help.
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