The use on online tracking tools on the health-related websites and apps of HIPAA and non-HIPAA regulated entities continues to be a lightning rod due to a long list of ongoing data privacy, regulatory and legal concerns, said partner and attorney Elizabeth Hodge of the law firm Akerman.
“A person’s health information is some of the most sensitive information about them that exists, and many people believe that when they entrust that information to healthcare providers or health-related businesses that those entities will protect that information and not share it in ways that the individual doesn’t expect,” she said.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, as well as more recent state and federal developments involving transgender and other controversial care continue to fuel privacy worries regarding the disclosure of individuals’ personal and health information to third parties through the tracker tools, she said.
“People have an even greater concern about the privacy of their health data, especially now when you have the potential for possibly civil or criminal consequences, for seeking or receiving certain types of healthcare,” she said.
Both HIPAA and non-HIPAA regulated entities should take critical steps to avoid falling into the fray based on allegations that their use of online trackers are unlawfully collecting and sharing personal and health information without the knowledge or consent of individuals.
On Thursday, Flo Health, a consumer fertility-tracking mobile app maker, agreed to settle a federal class action lawsuit that alleged the California-based company shared sensitive data of millions of users without their consent with Google, Meta and other firms, who were named as co-defendants (see: Lawsuit: Fertility App Maker Sent Data to Google, Facebook).
Flo Health was also the subject of a Federal Trade Commission enforcement action in 2021, also involving similar allegations (see: FTC Orders Health App Vendor to Revamp Privacy Practices).
In this audio interview with Information Security Media Group (see audio link below photo), Hodge also discussed:
- Recent class action litigation involving web trackers;
- The potential direction the FTC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services might take in health data-related web-tracking cases under the Trump administration;
- Steps that entities can take to help avoid regulatory scrutiny and civil lawsuits involving their use of online trackers.
Hodge is a partner in law firm Akerman’s healthcare and data privacy practices. She focuses on compliance and regulatory issues affecting healthcare providers, payers and employer-sponsored health plans. She is also the chair of the American Health Law Association’s Health and Information Technology Practice Group.