A $300,640 settlement announced yesterday by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) provides important reminders about HIPAA Privacy Rule and data privacy practices generally: robust data disposal practices are critical and “protected health information” (PHI) is not limited to diagnosis or particularly sensitive information.

The OCR’s settlement involved a New England dermatology practice that reported

Back in January, Colorado lawmakers on both sides of the aisle introduced a groundbreaking new bill requiring “reasonable security procedures and practices” for protecting personal identifying information, limiting the time frame to notify affected Colorado residents and the Attorney General of a data breach, and imposing data disposal rules, HB 1128. Now, Colorado Governor

On January 1, 2015, Delaware employers who dispose of records which contain the unencrypted personal identifying information of employees must take steps to ensure the privacy of such information.  The bill, H.B. 294, was recently signed by Delaware’s Governor Jack Markell.

The new law defines personal identifying information as an employee’s first name

Many organizations believe they have taken all steps necessary to eliminate the risk of a data breach. They often point to the organization’s deft IT team and tout the installation of some of the latest software solutions to protect sensitive data. However, some of these same organizations often fail to take some very basic steps

Indiana recently enacted a new law which grants authority to the Indiana Office of the Attorney General’s Identity Theft Unit to obtain and secure abandoned records with personally identifying information, including health records, and either destroy them or return them to their owners. Additionally, the new law sets fines and other legal ramifications for violations of

Less than one month into 2010 the trend to address data security, destruction, and encryption has continued among state lawmakers. Specifically, Florida, Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and New York all have introduced, reintroduced, or amended legislation of this kind. 

  • The Florida and Michigan laws would amend personal data destruction rules for companies.
  • The New York law would mandate data security and encryption measures.
  • The Kentucky bill would require government agencies to protect all personal data under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
  • The Michigan bill includes a state version of the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule and would require creditors in the state to implement programs aimed at spotting “red flags” of possible identity theft and put in place mitigation measures. Michigan is also considering a number of other measures. 
  • The Kansas law would require state agencies to engage in periodic network security reviews.
  • The Pennsylvania bill would require public agencies to notify state residents of a breach of their personal information within seven days of the discovery of the breach.

While 5 states remain without data breach notice bills (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Dakota), Congress is considering legislation, the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA) (H.R. 2221), that would preempt all state notification laws and instead establish a national breach notice standard.

As we have previously mentioned, we anticipate data privacy and security legislation and case law to be at the forefront of legal issues in 2010. Employers should begin by reading the Data Security Primer and consider implementing comprehensive data security policies and procedures that would allow them to comply with the various state laws that may impact their business. Continue Reading Data Security, Destruction and Encryption Leads the Way for States in 2010

Joining the growing number of states which have enacted laws regulating the destruction of records to prevent possible identity theft, the Rhode Island Legislature passed H. 5092 on October 29, 2009. The bill requires businesses and government agencies to completely destroy records containing personal information, or render the personal information unusable, before disposing of records whether