Attorneys General of 14 states ask FTC not to reduce state privacy powers in any privacy framework or regulations. California did not participate.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Massachusetts General Hospital settles 2009 breach with Office of Civil Rights
Posted in Data Breach, HIPAA/HITECHThe cost of data breaches keeps on rising. Add another million to this week’s HIPAA charges. Just released this afternoon – the Office of Civil Rights announced that it has reached a settlement with Massachusetts General Hospital relating to a 2009 loss of medical records when a billing manager who was carrying the records accidentally… Continue Reading
Office of Civil Rights Speaks at HIMSS – on the heels of a $4.3 million fine to Cignet Health
Posted in UncategorizedThis week, we heard about the first civil money penalty under the HIPAA Privacy Rule for failure to provide access to medical records and willful neglect — and it was a whopper. The appearance of Adam Greene, Senior Health IT and Privacy Advisor to the Office of Civil Rights – the enforcement arm of the… Continue Reading
Blogging from HIMSS11
Posted in UncategorizedDianne Bourque and Ellen Janos will be providing commentary over the next couple of days from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Orlando. If you are at HIMSS, please stop by and say hello – Mintz Levin is at Booth 639. Stay tuned!
Discussion about “Privacy by Design”
Posted in Uncategorized“Privacy by Design,” is a concept introduced by Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, way back in the 90’s. Privacy by Design advances the view that the future of privacy cannot be assured solely by compliance with legislation and regulatory frameworks; rather, privacy assurance must ideally become an organization’s default mode of operation. It was… Continue Reading
If you don’t want privacy regulation — FTC advises industry to “move quickly”
Posted in Data Compliance & Security, Legislation, Online AdvertisingThe Federal Trade Commission’s public comment period on its preliminary staff report, Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers, has closed. The FTC received over 300 comments during the extended comment period, including several states. It is looking more likely that some form of privacy regulation… Continue Reading
FTC Offers Tips for Dealing with Medical Identity Theft
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Dianne Bourque The Federal Trade Commission has released a series of medical identity theft FAQs for health care providers and health plans. The FAQs contain resources for patients and a variety of practical tips that are intended to help health care providers and insurers minimize risk to patients and assist those who become victims… Continue Reading
Privacy Lawsuit Against Data Aggregator Spokeo Dismissed
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Julia Siripurapu The practices of online data aggregator and broker Spokeo, Inc. (“Spokeo”) have come under the scrutiny of consumers and consumer privacy advocates for a while now, and have been on the FTC’s radar since at least last summer when the Center for Democracy and Technology filed a complaint against Spokeo with… Continue Reading
Job Applicant’s Right to Privacy Not Violated By Disclosure of Juvenile Records to Job Recruiter
Posted in UncategorizedWritten by Martha Zackin Joseph Van Zee wanted to be all he could be – so he joined the Army. After the Army recruiter discovered that Van Zee had a juvenile criminal record, his enlistment was cancelled. Van Zee responded in the American way- he sued, alleging that his Fourteenth Amendment privacy rights were violated… Continue Reading
