Daryl, if you read the article closely, you will see that Google claims HIPPA does not apply to them as defined by HIPPA. When HIPPA was created and passed into law, no one even thought about something like Google having possession of health data. They may have enough lawyers to make their contention stick.
Many people don't seem to mind having Google know an awful lot about them, why else would Gmail be such a hit with some?
Some people will trade almost any personal info for money or a 'free' service, it appears. And Google may be full of honest, incorruptible people and their storage may be more secure than anything else on the globe. I don't think we'll ever know until some ones data is leaked/stolen and the bad consequences affect those people. Much more info could be 'used' without anyone ever knowing about it, of course. But then, I'm just a
little paranoid and cynical...
Our mug meeting last night was about security of our computers, email, surfing, etc. There were countless questions and solutions offered. But many had no problem giving Google free access for a lot of personal information without any qualms whatsoever.