DLA Piper writes: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) federal government has issued Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 on the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Health Fields (“ICT Health Law”). The objectives of this law are to: ensure the optimal use of ICT in health fields; ensure safety and security of health…
Category: Federal
New Requirements for FTC Data Security Settlements
Katherine E. Armstrong of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP writes: Two of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) most recent data security settlements include new requirements that go beyond previous data security settlements. The new provisions (1) require that a senior corporate officer provide to the FTC annual certifications of compliance and (2) specifically prohibit making…
SkyMed Medical Evacuation Membership Service Exposed Data of 137k Members
Jeremiah Fowler reports on another unsecured elasticsearch database that his firm has found: On March 27th I discovered an unsecured Elasticsearch database that contained what appeared to be members of a medical evacuation membership service. Upon further inspection of the data there were many references that the data allegedly belonged to Florida based SkyMed. It…
SEC Warns Advisers Over Privacy Compliance Issues
Craig A. Newman of Patterson Belknap writes: The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning investment firms to step up their game when it comes to following the agency’s privacy rules. In a Risk Alert issued by the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), a laundry list of compliance “deficiencies or weaknesses” were identified in…
HHS exercises enforcement discretion and reduces maximum civil penalties
Those who want to see HHS/OCR come down like a ton of bricks on more entities and impose heavier civil monetary penalties for HIPAA breaches will likely not be happy to learn that HHS has decided to reduce the maximum civil penalties it will impose for the four tiers of violations of HIPAA. Under the…
The Lack of an Adequate HIPAA Security Risk Assessment is a Common and Costly Mistake by Healthcare Providers: What Providers Can Do Now
Erin Smith Aebel of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP writes: Health care providers and others who must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) have specific requirements under the Security Rule to HIPAA when it comes to their maintenance of electronically held protected health information. One of those requirements is…