Earlier this year, I wrote on this blog about a family who started a Web site to keep loved ones informed about a Bakersfield woman's battle with cancer.

What do you think about this method of keeping everyone in the loop? (Read "Web site spreads news of woman's condition" in today's Californian.)

The site for Vicki Moore, a Bakersfield mother of two, is www.updateonvicki.com.

Another example is a blog started by a friend of a man in Kentucky who was in a terrible car accident. You can see that at www.janaandbrian.blogspot.com.

Some sites have even been started for "sick bloggers," as they've been called. CarePages.com and CaringBridge.org allow patients to write about their journeys and connect with others facing the same disease.

Using the Web as a tool to keep loved ones informed makes sense. It can act as a release.

And as Moore's mother said in the story, keeping people updated can be a daunting and heart-wrenching task.

"All of our cell phones stayed just packed with voice mail messages of people wanting to know what was going on," said Moore's mother Beth Cheatwood, 59. "Then the phones would be full. They would come to the hospital."

But sites like these do throw privacy to the wind. Traditionally, health information seems to be the kind of info you hold close and don't let anyone else see.

But then again, is anything really "private" anymore?

What are your thoughts on this? Would you use a Web site to keep family and friends informed?