The Federal Trade Commission today issued a policy statement affirming that health apps and connected devices that collect or use consumers’ health information must comply with the Health Breach Notification Rule, which requires that they notify consumers and others when their health data is breached. In a policy statement adopted during an open meeting, the Commission noted…
Category: Federal
Education Department Updates Rules and Criminal Penalties for Accessing Agency Data
Aaron Boyd reports: The Education Department is rolling out new rules for accessing and handling agency data by third parties—including students, parents and loan companies—with updated criminal penalties for anyone not following the new statutes. The new rules intend to bring the department into compliance with the 2019 Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act and…
Industry lobbies Congress to extend notification timeline after cybersecurity incidents
Maggie Miller reports: Key industry groups on Wednesday pushed to give organizations at least three days to report cybersecurity incidents to the federal government, effectively opposing Senate legislation that would give them 24 hours to report breaches. Read more on The Hill.
California DOJ Must Be Notified About Breaches of the Health Data of 500 or More California Residents
HIPAA Journal reminds us all that states can require notification to the state of breaches that are also covered by HIPAA and can take enforcement action if they are not reported: Recently, there have been several instances where the California DOJ has not been notified about ransomware attacks on California healthcare facilities, even though the…
Still Missing a New Leader, Former OCR Directors, Experts Offer Advice, Task List
Theresa Defino writes: Issue a final rule revising the privacy regulation and write guidance on the information blocking rule. Formalize the fledgling audit program required by Congress more than 10 years ago. Engage with providers and other HIPAA-regulated entities. And by all means, get cracking. In a series of interviews with RPP, two former Office for…
AU: Cyber-attackers partially knockout Australian education department, while unrelated leak impacts Blackboard Collab users
While New South Wales’ new COVID outbreak is causing problems, it has other problems as well. On July 9, GRC World Forums reported: The New South Wales (NSW) department of education in Australia has deactivated some internal systems after becoming the victim of a cyber-attack. The timing has created considerable challenges for staff as they…