Privacy law, particularly in the U.S., is “increasingly bad” for consumers and companies, said WilmerHale’s Kirk Nahra during a Practising Law Institute (PLI) event Wednesday.
Health Privacy and HIPAA
Privacy Daily follows regulatory changes to and enforcement of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The law governs how health care providers, insurers and other covered entities handle protected health information and imposes safeguards to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure. We also track new health privacy laws in the states including the Washington My Health My Data Act and a similar bill passed in New York state. Coverage includes significant HIPAA violations, enforcement actions and trends that shape how health data is collected, shared and secured.
Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching the title or clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Companies should review privacy notices, staff training and compliance protocols before Feb. 16 to avoid enforcement action under new HIPAA rules related to substance use disorder records, attorneys at Polsinelli said Tuesday.
AI companies should exercise more quality control over chatbots, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday (R), New Jersey AG Matthew Platkin (D) and 41 other AGs said Wednesday. The AGs sent a letter Tuesday to OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other major AI software production and distribution companies, Sunday’s office said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) could soon sign or veto the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act. The Senate delivered S-6953 to the governor on Tuesday, starting a 10-day shot clock for Hochul to decide on the bill, or it would become law automatically.
Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching the title or clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Consumer advocates released a model bill on AI chatbots Tuesday that aims to address growing privacy concerns around the technology. Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Fairplay have already shared the "People-First Chatbot Bill" with lawmakers in several states and plan to talk to more legislators soon, EPIC counsel Kara Williams told Privacy Daily.
New York senators delivered a controversial New York health data privacy bill to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Monday, nearly a year after it quickly passed the legislature back in January (see 2501280023). Transmission of S-929 gives Hochul 10 days to decide its fate, a spokesperson for the governor's office said Tuesday. “The Governor will review the legislation."
The District of Columbia’s Health Committee will weigh a privacy bill on personal health data and restricting geofencing around health facilities, the D.C. Council said in a Thursday memo. Councilmember Christina Henderson (I) introduced the measure (B26-0525) with six Democratic co-sponsors earlier this week.
New York must not give in to staunch industry efforts to stop a health data privacy bill, said state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal in an emailed statement Wednesday. The Democratic sponsors of the bill (S-929/A-2141) responded to a Monday letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) from many tech industry, advertising and other business groups calling for a veto.