Reacting to a report that identity theft was a top concern for Illinois residents (second in a list of ten), Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a legislative proposal to strengthen the state’s existing data breach notification law. The call for stronger breach notification laws is a trend that has emerged in other states, such as
Peer Review Confidentiality Requirement Protects Physician Reviewers from Adverse Employment Action, New Mexico Supreme Court Rules
When a physician participated in the peer review of another physician and his conduct during the review became the basis for adverse employment action against him, the New Mexico Supreme Court, in Yedidag v. Roswell Clinic Corp., ruled that the reviewing physician had a private cause of action against his employer, and affirmed the
Secretary in Germany Successfully Challenges Employer’s Monitoring…Is Your Monitoring Program Defensible?
According to a report by Deutsche Welle, the German Federal Labor Court held that employers may monitor employees only when they have concrete suspicions of wrongdoing that are based on fact. In the U.S., the standards for engaging in monitoring employees may not be quite that high, but employers should be thinking about whether
ACA Information Reporting Creates Data Privacy and Security Issues
During this year, businesses will be hearing a lot about the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) information reporting requirements under Code Sections 6055 and 6056. Information gathering will be critical to successful reporting, and there is one aspect of that information gathering which employers might want to take action on sooner rather than later – collecting
Employer FAQs: Responding to the Anthem Breach
The first massive data breach of 2015 hit one of the country’s largest insurance issuers, Anthem, Inc., including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and other related entities (Anthem). The incident reportedly affected over 80 million persons who are or were covered under a policy or program insured or serviced by Anthem. The personal note
New York Attorney General Seeks Stonger Data Breach Notification Law and Data Security Safeguards
Earlier this month, the New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a legislative proposal that would strengthen protections for private information by expanding the state’s breach notification law to cover e-mails, passwords and health data, require companies to implement data security measures, and notify consumers and employees in the event of a breach. If
FTC Announces “Concrete Steps” for IoT Privacy and Security
As the vast array of internet-connected devices mushrooms, and technologies permit those devices to communicate with one another, calls for privacy and security can be heard. On the heels of a recent victory in the ongoing LabMD case, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced yesterday “concrete steps” businesses can take to enhance the privacy
Healthcare Providers and Business Associates: Don’t Ignore the Insider Threats
News reports of security risks, hackings and breaches caused by individuals, terror groups or even countries around the world certainly are important and can be unsettling. But, for many organizations, including healthcare providers and business associates, a significant and perhaps more immediate area of data risk rests with an organization’s workforce members. An organization’s information
President Obama to Call For National Data Breach Notification Law and Other Cybersecurity Measures
About two years ago, President Obama signed an executive order on the date that he delivered his State of the Union address which directed certain federal agencies to develop voluntary standards for achieving cybersecurity. Preparing for his 2015 State of the Union address, Bloomberg and other news outlets are reporting this morning that President Obama
Indiana Attorney General Enforces HIPAA For First Time – Another Lesson for Small Business
As we reported, state Attorneys General have authority to enforce the privacy and security regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), pursuant to the authority granted under the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act. Shortly after announcing plans to seek legislation requiring stronger protections for personal and