We commend the authors of "Consumer-based technology for distribution of surgical videos for global evaluation" for utilizing easily accessible equipment as a means to distribute videos for evaluation of technical skill [1]. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices and the cumbersome nature of handling DVD multimedia, video distribution through mobile-enabled, web-based services certainly improves access to videos for assessment, feedback, quality control, and medical record keeping.Facilitating access to surgical videos raises three key concerns based on data security and privacy. First, even when patient or surgeon identities are not apparent from video images, potentially identifying information, such as time and location of the operation, can be bundled with the video files in the form of metadata. Second, standards of security and privacy may be inconsistent among parties sending and receiving data.
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