I was filmed in my doctor's appointment without consent
Throwaway account for privacy. Location: Utah
I (20s, F) went to a dermatologist's office for the first time recently. I was a little nervous going in since I had some new moles and was having them checked out (I was worried about melanoma, thankfully my skin is all good). All of the staff were very kind and once I was placed in a patient room I was asked if I wanted just certain areas checked or if I wanted a whole body exam. Hoping this would be my one and only dermatology appointment for a long time and to put my mind at ease, I said I would like a full body exam. They explained I could keep my bra and underwear on and handed me a sheet to cover myself when I wasn't being examined, and then they left the room.
When the NP came in, she was super nice and made me feel really comfortable. She was very thorough, sitting down partway through and having me/whichever part of my body she was checking face her, the side of me covered with the sheet to the door. I had a blemish which she prescribed a cream for and repeated my preferred pharmacy kind of to the side after I told her, clearly not to me, which I thought was weird but I figured she must be repeating what I said in order to remember so she could put in the prescription later.
It was only when she was leaving the room that I noticed her cover up a camera next to the door with what looked like a sock.
I was in shock. I didn't really want to believe it, but after I put my clothes back on I checked under it and sure enough, it was a camera. It wasn't hidden, it was on an arm sticking out of a cabinet, so I'm not sure how I didn't see it before then. I realized then that she had been the only person in the room (which I should have realized was weird for that kind of exam, but I'd been so nervous I wasn't thinking) and she had been talking to the camera about my prescription.
My thought in that moment was could it possible that instead of having a second person in the room for an exam, they had someone else in the office watching through a camera? That didn't really make sense to me but I had somewhere to go so I kind of shut down, trying not to cry and left.
The more time has gone by, the more violated, uncomfortable and upset I feel. Thankfully, this NP positioned me so that I did not completely expose myself to the camera when she was checking under my bra and underwear (because I was facing her with my back to the camera) but whoever was on the other side definitely did not see nothing, between the angle of the camera, me adjusting the sheet as she checked me over, etc.
At no time was the camera or any recording equipment acknowledged by any staff. I scoured over the paperwork I signed as a new patient, and again, no mention. I called the office later and asked them about the camera, and the receptionist apologized. He said that the doctors are supposed to explain this to new patients, but sometimes they forget. He said they have remote medical scribes that view the appointments on a secure channel. That's the best case scenario if it's true, but it doesn't make me feel much better.
I did NOT give ANY form of consent to being recorded, or 'streamed securely'. Whether it was a secure stream, whether it was another woman on the other side, whether they had scribes available in office as an alternative option to being recorded or not, if I had noticed the camera or been told about the camera at the start of the appointment I would have refused and left. That is not something I'm comfortable with at all. But I wasn't informed and I didn't have the opportunity to get out of that office before it was too late.
I don't really have the money for a lawyer tbh, but I am still wondering if there's anything I can (or should) do here legally. Does this violate HIPPA or any Utah privacy laws? Should I make a police report? Is this a thing that doctors offices are doing now across Utah or other places? Even so, wouldn't they require patients' consent, verbal or written?
At the very least I hope this post gets out there for people's awareness that this may unfortunately start happening elsewhere. Thanks.