WEBINAR: Managing Risk with Online Tracking Technologies
Attorneys at Oscislawski LLC together with the New Jersey Hospital Association present this highly informational Webinar on compliance steps hospitals can take to attempt to manage the risks associated with use of technologies that include online tracking tools.
Genetic Testing Company Violates Privacy and Security Policies, FTC Says.
Genetic testing companies, and those who partner with them, must take care to ensure that the scope of how consumers’ sensitive data is used and shared in the future aligns with the scope of consent that was granted by the consumer at the point of collection. The FTC found that a California-based genetic testing company informed consumers that it would only share consumers’ sensitive health and other personal information “in limited circumstances,” but then expanded sharing such information with new third parties, like supermarket chains. The FTC has now stepped up to protect consumers’ sensitive genetic information.
AHA Writes Letter to HHS and Pushes Back on OCR’s Online Tracking Guidance
After OCR created a Morton’s Fork for hospitals and health systems by publishing its HIPAA Guidance on the Use of Online Tracking Technologies, the American Hospital Association initially stayed out of the fray. Not any more. In its letter dated May 22, 2023, AHA makes its case to HHS as to why OCR’s Online Tracking Guidance should be suspended or amended.
FTC Finds that Ovulation Tracking App Violated the Health Breach Notification Rule
The FTC releases its second enforcement action under the Health Breach Notification Rule in just over 3 months. This time, the FTC found that a fertility app called Premom shared sensitive fertility information with third parties for unauthorized purposes. While Premom told its users that it would not share their health information with third parties without users’ consent, it used third-party automated tracking tools known as software development kits (SDKs) which shared highly sensitive health information (e.g., data about an individual user’s sexual & reproductive health, pregnancy status etc.) for advertising and marketing purposes.
ONC Says “Vetting” Mobile Apps is Information Blocking
ONC says actors that require third-party apps to be “vetted” by them for security reasons before allowing patients to use such apps to receive EHI via API technology certified to the Standardized API certification criterion is likely to be information blocking. However, my concern with relying solely on the security criteria required for API certification is that it is too low of a bar to adequately protect patients and other individuals from developers of apps that fail to keep promises to keep individuals’ information confidential.
ONC Publishes New FAQs on Information Blocking focused on the Privacy Exception.
The Office of National Coordinator says it receives a lot of questions regarding how the Information Blocking Rule is supposed to work in tandem with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and other federal and state laws governing privacy and confidentiality. Their new FAQs aim to help clarify when actors can choose to not respond to a request for access, exchange, or use of electronic health information.
Penalties for Violation of the Information Blocking Rule Start Today!
OIG’s authority to begin enforcement of the Information Blocking Rule begins September 1, 2023. Certain Actors subject to the Information Blocking Rule may be subject up to a $1 million penalty per violation! Actors need to be proactive in ensuring their compliance with the Information Blocking Rule and not wait for the OIG to discover them.
WEBINAR: Managing Risk with Online Tracking Technologies
Attorneys at Oscislawski LLC together with the New Jersey Hospital Association present this highly informational Webinar on compliance steps hospitals can take to attempt to manage the risks associated with use of technologies that include online tracking tools.
Genetic Testing Company Violates Privacy and Security Policies, FTC Says.
Genetic testing companies, and those who partner with them, must take care to ensure that the scope of how consumers’ sensitive data is used and shared in the future aligns with the scope of consent that was granted by the consumer at the point of collection. The FTC found that a California-based genetic testing company informed consumers that it would only share consumers’ sensitive health and other personal information “in limited circumstances,” but then expanded sharing such information with new third parties, like supermarket chains. The FTC has now stepped up to protect consumers’ sensitive genetic information.
AHA Writes Letter to HHS and Pushes Back on OCR’s Online Tracking Guidance
After OCR created a Morton’s Fork for hospitals and health systems by publishing its HIPAA Guidance on the Use of Online Tracking Technologies, the American Hospital Association initially stayed out of the fray. Not any more. In its letter dated May 22, 2023, AHA makes its case to HHS as to why OCR’s Online Tracking Guidance should be suspended or amended.
FTC Finds that Ovulation Tracking App Violated the Health Breach Notification Rule
The FTC releases its second enforcement action under the Health Breach Notification Rule in just over 3 months. This time, the FTC found that a fertility app called Premom shared sensitive fertility information with third parties for unauthorized purposes. While Premom told its users that it would not share their health information with third parties without users’ consent, it used third-party automated tracking tools known as software development kits (SDKs) which shared highly sensitive health information (e.g., data about an individual user’s sexual & reproductive health, pregnancy status etc.) for advertising and marketing purposes.
ONC Says “Vetting” Mobile Apps is Information Blocking
ONC says actors that require third-party apps to be “vetted” by them for security reasons before allowing patients to use such apps to receive EHI via API technology certified to the Standardized API certification criterion is likely to be information blocking. However, my concern with relying solely on the security criteria required for API certification is that it is too low of a bar to adequately protect patients and other individuals from developers of apps that fail to keep promises to keep individuals’ information confidential.
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