Recital 17

Natural persons might not want to allow access to some parts of their personal electronic health data while enabling access to other parts. This could especially be relevant in cases of sensitive health issues such as those related to mental or sexual health, sensitive procedures such as abortions, or data on specific medication which could reveal other sensitive issues. Such selective sharing of personal electronic health data should therefore be supported and implemented through restrictions set by the natural person concerned in the same way within the territory of a given Member State and for cross-border data sharing. Those restrictions should allow for sufficient granularity to restrict parts of datasets, such as elements of the patient summaries. Before setting the restrictions, natural persons should be informed of the risks for patient safety associated with limiting access to health data. Given that the unavailability of the restricted personal electronic health data may impact the provision or quality of health services provided to the natural person, natural persons making use of such access restrictions should assume responsibility for the fact 4/96 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/327/oj that the healthcare provider cannot take the data into account when providing health services. The restrictions on access to personal electronic health data could have life-threatening consequences and, therefore, access to those data should nevertheless be possible where necessary to protect vital interests in emergency situations. More specific legal provisions on the mechanisms of restrictions placed by natural persons on parts of their personal electronic health data could be provided for by Member States in their national law, in particular as regards medical liability in cases where restrictions have been placed by the natural person concerned.