Digital Media and Data Privacy Law Blog

If you thought all the action in privacy regulation centered around the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission would like you to think again. Yesterday, April 28, the FCC held a 3-plus hour workshop that started the regulatory “conversation” on the manner in which the FCC can or should regulate consumer broadband privacy.

Chairman Wheeler kicked off the event with opening remarks that included this unequivocal statement: “Privacy is unassailable.” He also said that “changes in technology do not affect our values.” From these words ... Read More 

Over the past months, my experiences with physician practices have made me realize that many practices do not understand how HIPAA applies to subpoenas for medical records.  More worrisome, I suspect that many practices nationwide routinely violate HIPAA when they receive a subpoena.

Here’s what I’ve observed:  Practices receive state court subpoenas that are signed by lawyers and that demand the production of medical records, and the practices automatically assume they must produce the records.  This is a dangerous assumption—the production of the records may very well ... Read More 

“BYOD” or “bring your own device” (also known as the “consumerization of IT”) is a fact of life in today’s workplace. BYOD refers to the practice of using personally owned devices—like smartphones, tablets, and laptops—for work purposes and allowing these devices to connect to company networks and applications. According to a Gartner study released in late 2014, 40% of U.S. employees working for large companies use personally owned devices for work purposes. Of those who reported using personally owned devices, only 25% were required by their employers ... Read More