FTC May Change Obscure Data Breach Rule In Telehealth Era

Ben Kochman reports:

The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that it is considering changing a decade-old, little-used rule that requires certain companies handling health information to publicly report data breaches — and which could gain new relevance as consumers increasingly turn to telehealth.

The consumer protection agency says it is soliciting comments on whether it should make changes to its 2009 “Health Breach Notification Rule,” which mandates the disclosure of data breaches by firms that handle personal health data but who are not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which has its own breach notification rules.