An en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled today that employers and website hosts cannot use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prosecute users who violate company policies or website terms of use. The ruling puts the Ninth Circuit at odds with four other federal circuits which have opined on […]
FTC Releases Final Report: Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change
Last week the FTC issued its final report to address privacy issues associated with new and emerging technologies and business models (“Report”). This follows the FTC’s preliminary report issued in December 2010. Since the preliminary report, the FTC received and considered over 450 comments prior to making its final recommendations. The Report articulates a privacy framework […]
HIPAA/HITECH Act Privacy Rule Now at OMB
Last month, we reported that it was being widely reported that HIPAA/HITECH Act Omnibus Final Rule would be issued in March 2012, but that it had not yet been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Executive Order 12866. The federal government website that reports on regulations under review by OMB […]
Alston & Bird Delivers Webinar on HIPAA Data Breaches: Managing them Internally and in Response to Civil/Criminal Investigations
Alston & Bird hosted the second session of its three-part webinar series on health care litigation on Thursday, March 22, 2012, 1pm-2pm. Spence Pryor, Paula Stannard and Jason Popp were the featured panelists. View more and download the PowerPoint from the event.
HIPAA Covered Health Plans Beware: HHS Office of Civil Rights Kicks Off HIPAA Audit Program
Since November 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has been conducting audits of covered entities (the “HIPAA Audit Program”) for compliance with the privacy and security requirements under HIPAA and the HITECH Act (collectively, the “Privacy & Security Rules”). While the Internal Revenue Service […]