US Privacy Law

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Seyfarth Synopsis: This past Monday, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its final rule aimed at strengthening the HIPAA Privacy rules as they are applied to reproductive health data.

On the heels of the release of the 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Biden Administration directed the Federal agencies to examine what they could do to protect women’s health and privacy. Shortly thereafter, HHS released guidance under HIPAA related to reproductive health care services under a health plan, focusing on information required to be disclosed by law, for law enforcement purposes, and to avert a serious threat to health or safety (see our earlier Alert here). Then, in April 2023, HHS issued proposed modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule aimed at these concerns. A year later, the agency finalized those rules on April 22, 2024 – the Final Rule.Continue Reading HHS Strengthens HIPAA Rules to Protect Reproductive Health Privacy

In recognition of the need for the world’s two largest economic blocks to coordinate data protection efforts, The Article 29 Working Party of the EU released a “Referential” to map the EU requirements for Binding Corporate Rules (“BCRs”) and the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules System (“CBPRs”). This Referential is a tool for the two systems to determine common ground. Ultimately, it will be used by the EU in the process of determining what level of cross-recognition may exist between BCRs and CBPRs, in terms of the “adequacy” necessary to move data between the EU and Asia.
Continue Reading EU and Asian Privacy Models – Work Toward Interoperability