Today, the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) publishes a proposed rule in the Federal Register by which it seeks to encourage reporting of persons with mental health bars to gun ownership/possession to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It proposes to do so by revising the HIPAA Privacy Rule to […]
Alston & Bird Webinar: The Cybersecurity Framework: Understanding Its Structure, Content and Potential Impact
On Tuesday, January 21, join Alston & Bird in a lively discussion on the NIST Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework. The release of the NIST Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework in October marks one of the final steps in creating the “voluntary” framework envisioned in the Obama administration’s Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. While the development of the […]
CMS Releases Updated HIPAA Security Risk Analysis Tipsheet for EHR Meaningful Use Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in conjunction with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has recently issued an updated tipsheet on conducting a security risk assessment for health care providers participating in CMS’s Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs. To receive incentive payments through the program, providers must demonstrate meaningful use […]
New York Court Upholds Constitutionality of NSA Metadata Collection
On December 27, ruling in American Civil Liberties Union v Clapper, No. 13 Civ. 9334 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 27, 2013), federal district Judge William H. Pauley III granted the government’s motion to dismiss a complaint brought by the ACLU challenging the constitutionality of the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone metadata. Telephone metadata consists of the record […]
NSA Collection of Metadata Ruled Unconstitutional
On December 16, Federal District Judge for the District of Columbia Richard Leon held the National Security Administration’s collection of telephone metadata to be an unconstitutional invasion of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. Previous challenges to governmental collection of telephone metadata have met with failure, and the ruling marks the first time a federal court […]