…. As described in prior posts on this blog, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought numerous enforcement actions against businesses based on its decision that the businesses’ data security practices were “deceptive” or “unfair” under Section 5 of the FTC Act.  When I last checked the FTC’s website, there were 54 cases listed under the “Privacy and Security” topic and “Data Security” subtopic, one of which is the LabMD case filed on August 29, 2013.  Blog readers may have “discerned” (as do smart businesses when reviewing these cases and trying to figure out what the FTC’s data security “standards” might be) that I am intrigued with the LabMD case.  My intrigue arises, in part, from the stark contrast between the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the way these agencies identify data security standards applicable to regulated entities.  Of course, HHS’s standards apply specifically to the subset of data that is protected health information (PHI) – precisely the type of data involved in the LabMD case – but that hasn’t stopped the FTC from insisting that its own “standards” also apply to covered entities and business associates regulated by HIPAA.