Health

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires that privacy notices be updated annually, and that the detailed disclosures it proscribes be in those notices reflect the 12-month period prior to the effective (posting) date. Interestingly, failure to make annual updates was one of several alleged CCPA violations that resulted in a recent $1.35 Million administrative civil penalty by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) against retailer Tractor Supply Company. Also, three more state consumer protection laws go into effect on January 1, 2026, which will require notice and consumer rights intake changes, if applicable. Additionally, new and amended CCPA regulations will bring new obligations for businesses starting the first of the year that need to be addressed between now and then. Also recommended is a general checkup with particular attention to enforcement priorities.

Continue Reading Your Year-end U.S. Privacy “To Do” List – don’t wait until the holiday crush to become 2026-ready

Summary

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“HHS”) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) titled HIPAA Security Rule to Strengthen the Cybersecurity of Electronic Protected Health Information. HHS seeks comments on proposed modifications to the Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information comprising 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164, Subpart C, commonly known as the “Security Rule”, to address modern breach and cybersecurity risks to electronic protected health information (“ePHI”)[1] and common deficiencies observed by HHS in Security Rule compliance investigations, and to incorporate current industry best practices[2] and court decisions affecting enforcement of the Security Rule[3].[4] As summarized below, the proposed modifications signal HHS’s commitment to aligning the Security Rule requirements with current cybersecurity standards and addressing areas of non-compliance with more prescriptive measures to enhance ePHI security in the face of evolving cyber threats and technological advancements. HHS invites interested parties to submit comments by March 7, 2025.

Continue Reading HHS Publishes Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend HIPAA Security Rule Requirements – Comments Due March 7, 2025

Washington’s My Health My Data Act (“MHMDA”) and Nevada’s SB 370 (“NV CHD Law”) (collectively, “CHD Laws”) went into effect at the end of last month, on March 31, 2024 (as many know, MHMDA’s geofencing prohibition went into effect last summer). Unlike the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), a federal law which governs privacy and security in traditional healthcare settings, CHD Laws regulate “consumer health data” or “CHD”– a very broadly defined term as we discuss below and in a prior post – collected by companies in a broad swath of health and non-health related industries alike. Even ancillary purposes like providing accessibility accommodations and defending personal injury claims are enough to trigger the laws. CHD Laws impose restrictions and obligations on regulated entities far more burdensome than state consumer privacy laws, many of which already regulate some of the same health data, and unlike those general consumer privacy laws are not proposed to be preempted by the potential federal America Privacy Rights Act.

As such, compliance programs that businesses may have developed to comply with state consumer privacy laws, such as the California Privacy Protection Act (“CCPA”), will not be sufficient to address the requirements of the CHD Laws, though they can be leveraged such as for consumer rights request and processor management. There are some material differences beyond the scope of the data regulated. For example, businesses must add another website footer link (and potentially elsewhere, such as in mobile apps) and post a separate privacy policy applicable to the processing of CHD. The facilitation of consumer rights must be CHD-specific, for example providing the right to delete just CHD, rather than all personal information. Moreover, businesses that have CHD use cases not within narrow exceptions (e.g., as necessary to provide a requested product or service), which differ somewhat as between the two laws, will have to grapple with the foreboding consent and authorization requirements which, in some cases, could result in subjecting visitors or customers to a litany of notices and pop-ups in an environment already plagued by what some dub as “consent fatigue.”

Continue Reading Are you Ready for Washington and Nevada’s Consumer Health Data Laws?

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

Notes from the Asia Pacific Region, December 2023 | Privacy World

Singapore to Amend Cybersecurity Law | Privacy World

The…

Google is adding a new Health App Policy to its set of requirements for Health Content and Services. The policy will become effective at the end of May 2024 and will apply to health apps – medical apps enhancing medical care and facilitating diagnosis and treatment, health and fitness apps enabling users to reach fitness…

Until late August 2023, California’s data protection law, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or “CCPA,” only provided for future rulemaking on automated decision-making, including profiling, on risk assessments, and on cybersecurity audits. However, during a board meeting it held this past Friday, September 8th, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA” or “Agency”), which shares enforcement authority of the CCPA with the California Attorney General, discussed a new set of draft regulations (“Regs”) it released for Agency discussion purposes in late August 2023. While not yet part of the official rulemaking, the draft and the discussions around it provides direction on its upcoming rulemaking on these topics. We will refer to the draft and related commentary as the “Roadmap.” Most notably, the Roadmap proposes that condensed versions of assessments and audits completed by businesses pursuant to their CCPA obligations be filed with the CPPA and sets forth detailed obligations surrounding such assessments and audits. The implication of this is that it may become obvious to the Agency which companies are or are not conducting assessments or audits and thus complying with their CCPA obligations. It may also provide the Agency an easily accessible way to review the evaluate businesses’ practices, especially with regard to higher risk processing activities. Furthermore, the Agency’s Roadmap suggests assessment requirements that not only incorporate, but exceed, what is required in the Colorado regulations, including risk / harm assessments of any monitoring of personnel or students, or monitoring of consumers in public places. We will be co-hosting a webinar with Ankura to take a deeper dive into what companies should be doing regarding assessments and audits. Register here to join us on October 18 to learn more.

Continue Reading California’s Potential Approach to Regulations on Risk Assessments and Cybersecurity Audits Could Be a Game Changer

Today, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the My Health My Data Act (SB 1155) (the “Act” or “MHMD”), a first-of-its-kind consumer health data law. Passage of the Act was, in part, a direct response by Washington state lawmakers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. overturning Roe v. Wade. Recognizing that the nation’s federal health law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), has blind spots in protecting health-related information collected outside of contexts involving HIPAA covered entities (e.g., healthcare institutions), the legislature in passing MHMD sought to “close the gap” in privacy protections for health data that falls outside the scope HIPAA, including information related to reproductive health and gender-affirming care.
Continue Reading Governor Inslee Signs Washington My Health My Data Act Into Law: First-of-Its-Kind Consumer Health Data Law, Explained

Each year, the French data protection authority, “CNIL”, conducts hundreds of investigations (345 in 2022) on the basis of complaints received, notification of data breaches, information conveyed by press or other media, but also annual priority topics set by the CNIL. These topics are the following for 2023.
Continue Reading Priority Topics for French CNIL Investigations in 2023: “Smart” Cameras, Mobile Apps, Bank and Medical Records

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

LinkedIn’s Data Scraping Battle with hiQ Labs Ends with Proposed Judgment | Privacy World

SEC Accused of Violating FOIA Deadlines…

Key Takeaway: Organizations must conduct a fact-based analysis to determine whether health data collection and tracking technology deployed on their websites and mobile apps complies with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and other applicable laws and guidance.

Cookies, web beacons, and similar technology are used to collect and analyze data…