Airline use of personal data on passengers likely not constrained by Privacy Act

A recent article on potentially troubling privacy practices by U.S. airlines posted on The Washington Post online highlights (unfortunately somewhat erroneously) some of the key differences in rules about personal data collection and use that apply…

HHS withdraws final health data breach notification rule for revision

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that it has withdrawn the final version of its rule on Breach Notification for Unsecured Protected Health Information, which it had submitted to OMB for…

Wisconsin court ruling addresses a different aspect of privacy and personal e-mails

A Wisconsin state supreme court ruling issued last week adds another dimension to the current debate over employee expectations of privacy in personal communications using employer-provided means. In this case, a group of teachers in the…

Small but significant changes in meaningful use rules simplify compliance

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the release of final versions of its rule on meaningful use and its electronic health record (EHR) incentive program and associated health IT standards and certification…

Clearer definitions and roles for intermediaries would facilitate policy decisions on directed exchange of health data

During the latest meeting of the Health IT Privacy and Security tiger team today, the bulk of the discussion centered around draft recommendations for message handling in what the group calls “directed exchange” in which health…

Supreme Court rules search of police officer’s text messages legal, opts not to try to resolve reasonable expectation of privacy issue

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous ruling in Ontario v. Quon, reversing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and finding that the City of Ontario (Calif.) Police Department (OPD) did not violate the 4th…

Prosecution of Maryland motorcyclist who recorded his traffic stop hinges on “reasonable expectation of privacy”

As reported in today’s Washington Post, a Maryland motorcyclist who used his helmet-mounted video camera to record the state trooper who stopped him and ticketed him for speeding, and then posted the video on YouTube, now…